Pause-Rewind-Play
by Kiristo
Summary: Billy and Spencer find something in the attic that causes Billy to remember having spent a week with the Wrights when he was alive but Spencer can't and thinks Billy is playing a prank on him. Until something about a red guitar sparks a feeling of familiarity so profound Spencer can't ignore it and the two go on a trip down memory lane. So to speak.
1. A prologue sort of

\- Present Day -

Spencer panned the camera down, following the picture frame as it floated onto the table, "Aaaaannndd cut!" He stopped the recording and played it back. Perfect. "Great work, Billy!"

"Well, what can I say, the Cobra is as good of an actor as he is a musician!" The ghost said with a smirk. Although he was visible to Spencer he was not visible through the camera lens.

Spencer rolled his eyes, "All you did was lower the frame onto the table, drill bit. It's not exactly rocket science."

Billy pouted and folded his arms, "Well, I'd like to see you do it, Spencilton!"

Spencer smirked. He could do it with some wires but having Billy do it saved him a ton of editing time. Not that he was gonna tell the ghost that. He wasn't in the mood for one of Billy's tantrums and Billy would probably storm off if Spencer said that. Besides, he was kind of grateful Billy agreed to help him with his new film even though it involved ghosts. Billy may be a ghost himself but they freaked him out(which Spence didn't understand). When Spencer first asked him for help he assumed Billy was going to refuse but to his surprise, Billy agreed. Spencer checked the recording again as he turned and walked toward the back of the attic.

"Whatever, dude. Look, I still got a butt ton of shots to take before Rajeev gets here so let's keep goi-AH!" Spencer's foot caught on something on the floor and he went down face-first. Ow. He pushed himself up and rubbed his forehead and nose…-with the hand that had been holding the camera. His head snapped up and he looked around only to see the device hovering in front of him.

Billy sheepishly grinned as he held the camera, "You ok, dude?"

Spencer sighed in relief as he took it from the ghost, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks, Billy. Don't know what I'd do if I broke this thing...again." He checked the footage again to make sure it wasn't damaged. To his relief it was fine.

Spencer looked back and glared at the box he'd tripped over, "You have way too much junk up here, dude. What is all this stuff?" He glanced around at the towers of boxes and bins that lined the attic walls.

Billy shrugged, "Could be anything. Gifts fans sent me, stuff I got that didn't match my awesome decor or something like that. I'd just have my people put that stuff up here. "

"Uuuhh, pack-rat much?" Spence smirked, "We should probably get rid of some of this stuff." He opened the box he had tripped over and started digging through it. There were some old clothes, jewelry, shoes, nicknacks...and an old multi-colored shoe box. It stood out compared to the other more expensive looking items.

Spencer chuckled as he lifted the shoebox out, "Hey, check this out!" He blew on it, causing a plume of dust to burst through the air and the pair coughed.

Billy turned his hand into a fan and blew the dust away. They blinked at the shoe box. It was covered in faded music and monster-themed stickers and childish drawings.

"Uuuhhh, what is this?" Spencer asked.

Billy shrugged, "Beats me, brotato. I don't remember this."

Spencer set the box down and they knelt beside it as he took off the lid. Inside was an assortment of random items.

"Heeeyyy," Spencer reached in and pulled out an old zombie toy, "I remember this! I had toys just like these when I was a kid. Did you used to play with this kind of stuff too?"

Billy made a face, "Are you kidding? I never touched stuff like that. Bleh!" He emphasized his disgust with a shiver.

Spencer's brows furrowed and he examined the toy. Somehow it looked almost exactly like the one he had as a kid. It was even missing the same arm...Weeeiiirrrddd.

Spencer continued to rummage through the box. There was a fancy guitar pick, an old notebook, a broken camcorder, pieces of cardboard with stuff scribbled on them, more toys, makeup, some costume jewelry, and more miscellaneous stuff.

"Looks like a bunch of garbage," Billy muttered. Then something under the camcorder caught his eye. He picked it up and the camcorder.

"Yeah, maybe you're right. This stuff doesn't look that important," Spencer sighed and looked at Billy. But the pop-star was staring at a small stack of papers with such shock written on his face it was like he'd seen a-...ghost. A faint glow faded from him so quickly that Spencer almost missed it.

"Billy?"

No response.

He walked over and tapped Billy's arm, "Hey."

The ghost looked up at him but his expression didn't change. Spencer took the stack of papers and realized they were pictures. The one on top was a picture of Billy when he was alive, maybe a teenager at the time, and he was holding a small child. Spencer's brain took a moment to register that the small child was himself. Spencer's head snapped up to look at his cousin again but Billy was busy staring at the camcorder.

"Whoa, what is this? Did-...Did we meet when you were-I mean before you got ghostif-"

"Alive."

Spencer blinked, "What?"

"When I was alive," he whispered. Spencer wasn't sure if Billy was talking to him or himself.

Spence didn't know what to say. Billy never, ever, ever, EVER referred to himself as dead or as his past as when he was alive. Not that they both didn't know it but it was a sensitive subject that made the late pop-star upset. So they referred to it as 'ghostified'. To hear Billy say it out loud made Spencer realize something was very wrong.

"Dude, I don't remember this. Do you?" Spencer asked.

Billy slowly nodded.

Spencer blinked, "Then why didn't you ever mention this?" He was trying not to be upset but it seemed like a big thing to leave out. Especially since Spencer believed he'd first met Billy after his family had inherited the house. He tried to remember when he could have possibly met Billy as a kid but he was drawing blanks.

"I forgot...how did I forget?" Billy muttered, again more to himself than to answer the question.

Spencer's eyebrows shot up and his mouth worked for a moment, "You...forgot? Just like that? That easily?"

Billy wasn't listening, he was staring at the stupid camera. Spencer flipped through the other pictures. There was the first, a young BJC grinning at the camera holding Spencer who might have only been around 4 or 5. Another was of Billy and Spencer sitting on the floor of Spencer's old bedroom while Spencer and playing with toys. Another had the pair trying to pose cool while wearing sunglasses and silly outfits. There was one that looked like Spence was playing the guitar while Billy helped hold it up. Another was the two pretending to be zombies, covered in mud and dirt. The more he flipped through the more irritated Spencer became.

He couldn't remember any of the scenarios that the pictures had. Nothing. Some seemed to feel familiar but he didn't know how and for some reason it was making him irrationally angry.

If this was a quick meeting at a family reunion or something he would have an easier time understanding that they forgot about it. But there were pictures of the pair and items that looked like they belonged to both boys. It looked like that may have actually gotten along as children. Spencer didn't remember having a friend like that as a kid. He was bullied a lot because of his interest in horror. Well, sure, he's still bullied even now but at least now he had friends. He would have been happier growing up if he knew he had a friend to support him.

Then he noticed something, "Hey...These were even taken at my old house. Someone would've had to have known about it. My parents! Billy, do you think they'd remember?"

Spencer looked at his friend again but Billy was floating there and staring at the wall as if his mind was somewhere else.

"Billy?" he waved a hand in front of his friend's face but received no response.

Spencer shook his head and went downstairs. He shouldn't be surprised Billy would forget something like that seeing how air-headed he usually was. Spencer would have just been a little kid at the time so it's possible he was too young to remember. But his parents should still remember. Spencer ran downstairs and into the kitchen where his mom was cooking.

"Hey Mom, can I ask you something?"

Jane turned and smiled at him, "Sure, sweetie."

Spencer held out the photo, "Do you remember Billy Joe Cobra ever visiting us before we moved here?"

She squinted at it for a moment before shaking her head, "I'm afraid not, dear. Where on Earth did this picture come from?"

Spencer frowned, "Don't worry about it. Thanks, Mom."

Spencer ran to find his Dad but only got the same result. He trudged back to the attic to find Billy and the box gone so he went to his room. The ghost wasn't there but the box and its contents were carefully laid out on the floor.

"Billy?!" He called out and waited. No response. He sighed in frustration.

Spencer couldn't help but wonder if Billy was making this up or playing some elaborate prank. His parents didn't remember and if BJC was staying at their old house when he was younger that's something you don't forget. If this was a joke it wasn't very funny. Spencer stomped through the house looking for the ghost. He found him in the studio. Billy was going through his instruments and muttering to himself.

Spencer stood behind him with his hands on his hips, "Billy."

Billy's head snapped around to look at Spencer and he grinned, "Hey, tater-tot! Look, I need your help finding something-"

Spencer cut him off by shoving the pictures at him, "Very funny, Billy."

"What's funny?" Billy frowned.

Spencer rolled his eyes, "Don't play dumb. This is a bad joke, dude, even for you."

"Iiiii'm not following…"

Spencer pointed at the pictures, "That! My parents don't remember you ever visiting when I was a kid and neither do I. Those have to be fake."

For a moment Billy looked genuinely hurt and Spencer's doubts faltered a little, "They're not fake and we did hang out as kids! I just...forgot until now. But I remember now so it's all true!"

"How do I know you're not making this whole thing up?"

Billy blinked, "Make this up? Are you kidding?!"

"Billy, no one else 'remembers' besides you. For all I know this is a prank or some dream you had. I mean these pictures could be a clever photoshop!"

"You really think I'd do something like that, dude?"

Spencer paused for a moment. Honestly, he didn't think Billy was smart enough to pull something like this off, and he didn't know why Billy would want to in the first place. But the ghosts schemes didn't always make sense(like the time Spence tried to get elected as class president and Billy trashed his room) and he could have had help with the pictures.

Spencer shrugged, "Maybe."

Billy glared and crossed his arms, "I'm telling the truth!"

"Prove it."

"Fine! I will!" and with that Billy zipped off through the wall.

Spencer smirked. He didn't know what Billy was going to try next but it wouldn't work. He'd get bored and give up on the prank sooner or later.

Or so Spencer thought. The longer the day progressed the more frantically Billy searched the house for something. The longer he searched the less angry the ghost became and the more despondent he was. Even when Rajeev came over to help film Billy was so engrossed with searching he didn't help with the film. No matter what Spence or Raj said he didn't stop. Rajeev was also skeptical but agreed with Spencer that Billy probably wasn't capable of photoshopping the pictures so well. They didn't dwell on it long and focused on filming instead while Billy was preoccupied.

Rajeev went home late in the afternoon and Spencer spent the rest of the evening fiddling with the old camcorder. He was really fixated on it for some reason. He thought that if he could get it to work maybe there would be something recorded on it to help clear things up. But no matter what he did it didn't work. Spencer gave up after a few hours and went to bed but Billy stayed up all night scouring the house. When Spencer got up the next morning the ghost was sitting on the floor in his room with a distraught expression on his face. He was surrounded by the objects from the box and the photos. Spencer tried talking to him but his friend completely ignored him. Spence was starting to actually get concerned but left for school without his friend anyway.

By lunchtime, the ghost still hadn't joined Spencer at school and he was getting worried. Shanilla scrutinized the pictures Spencer showed her but she couldn't find any evidence that the images were photoshopped. Meaning if Billy did have help then it was with someone super skilled...or he was telling the truth. But this didn't explain why no one else remembered. Rajeev joked that maybe it's a ghost thing and suggested messing with some ecto to try and jog his memory. Spencer dismissed it given how many times messing with ecto got them into trouble before.

Shanilla's suggestion that it may have been a fever dream and the ghost created the stuff in some weird ecto-fit seemed more plausible. But Spencer decided he'd ask his friend, a little nicer this time, to tell him what he remembered. Maybe he could make sense out of all this then.

Spencer went right home after school and up to his room. The elevator doors opened and he saw Billy sitting on the bed holding the camcorder. For some reason, the sight of it dissipated his happier mood and he grew irritated again.

"Still moping?" He slung his backpack on the bed and snatched the camcorder out of the ghosts' hands. Spencer plopped down at his desk and started fiddling with it again. Billy folded his arms around his chest with a pout and hovered in a ball by the window.

After a few minutes, he heard his friend sigh, "Even if you get it working there's nothing on it, bro-chanic…"

Spencer dropped the camcorder on the table a little harder than necessary, "Why didn't you tell me that sooner? I was messing with this stupid thing for hours last night." Spencer tossed the thing at the trash can.

"Whoa! No!" Billy extended an arm over and caught it mid-air.

"If it doesn't work then it's trash, dude."

Billy pouted at him, "It's special! We had some great times with this thing," he held it above him grinning like it was one if his Billy statues.

Spencer stared at him for a long moment, "Great times? Billy, it's a hunk of junk! Dude, tell me what's really going on."

Billy pouted at him, "Still think I'm making it up, do ya?"

Ah...that's right. He remembered his original game plan now. Spencer shook his head, "You're right, I'm sorry, man. Don't know what I got so tweaked over. Why don't you tell me something you remembered? Who knows, maybe it'll help me recall a thing or two."

Billy stared at him for a long moment. The seriousness of his expression made Spencer uneasy. Then the ghost shook his head and pouted out the window, "It'd be better if I could find that guitar. There's no way you'd forget that."

Spencer blinked and something in the back of his mind clicked, "Guitar?"

"Yeah, the one I played for you when I was visiting. We even came up with a song together on that thing! I have this feeling that if I can find the thing you'll remember something."

Spencer blinked and grabbed the pictures. There was an electric guitar in some of the pictures and a keytar but somehow he could feel these weren't what Billy was talking about. Spencer retrieved the fancy guitar pick from the box. It was carved out of some kind of red gemstone and engraved with the initials BJC that sparkled. Somehow Spencer knew he'd held it before and he was pretty sure he knew what the guitar looked like.

"Was the guitar red?"

Billy's head whipped around 180 degrees to look at him. He grinned and nodded.

"And bedazzled?"

"Custom gemstone embedded!" Billy huffed.

Spencer rolled his eyes with a smirk, "Bedazzled. But how did I remember that…?"

Billy grabbed his shoulders and shook him with a huge grin, "See! Told you I was telling the truth!"

"But what if I've seen you use it before? Like in one of your videos or something?" No...somehow that didn't feel right. But Spencer couldn't be sure the guitar was related to his past. Even if the thought of it felt profoundly familiar.

Billy shook his head, "I never used it again after I visited, I swear! Actually, I don't know what happened to it after that...But come on, dude, you gotta believe me!"

"If I help you look for it will you calm down and tell me what you remembered?"

Billy nodded vigorously and zipped out of the room. Spencer sighed and followed behind him. So the search continued...to no avail. The two searched the entire house, under every object, in every hidden compartment or room Billy ever installed but there wasn't a red glittery guitar anywhere. On their third search through the Tiki room, Spencer was starting to feel like he was being played again.

"Just give it up, dude. It's not here," he grumbled.

Billy was busy flinging things across the room and access another hidden safe, "It's gotta be! That thing was priceless!"

Spencer groaned and flopped down on the couch, "Would you knock it off and tell me what's really going on?"

Billy was suddenly in his face, "I'm telling the truth, Spence."

The seriousness of his friends' expression was erasing his doubts. Spencer squinted at him, "Honest?"

"Scouts honor!"

"You were never a scout. Billy, I'm serious. If this is some stupid joke then-"

"It's not!"

"Swear it!" Spence pointed a finger at him.

Billy stared at it for a moment before he smirked. Then he took Spencer's hand and looped his pinky with Spencer's, "I promise."

Spencer blinked. He didn't know what to say but he was overwhelmed with Deja Vu and a fuzzy memory of...someone doing the exact same thing stuck in his head. Spencer snatched his hand back and took a step back.

Billy frowned, "What?"

"I think I-..." Spencer shook his head, "Dude, we need to find that guitar."

Billy blinked, "Well duh! That's what I've been saying. State the obvious, much?"

Spencer groaned, "That's not what-I mean I think I remembered something!"

"Really?!"

"Yes! And if we find that guitar I might remember more."

Billy frowned, "But we've looked everywhere, Bro-tractor."

"When's the last time you remember having it?"

"I told you when I visited you."

"What if you left it behind?"

"Ha! Yeah right, as if I'd leave that precious thing behind," He paused for a long moment, "But if I did it'd probably be at the fort."

Spencer jolted, "Fort?"

Billy chuckled, "Yeah the one in the woods by the old cabin. Man, that place was a total junkyard but boy did we have fun. The fort you made by yourself was total lamesauce so the great BJC helped you make a better one."

Spencer's mouth worked for several moments. He'd never told anyone about that place. Not even his parents and sure as hell not Billy. He didn't talk about his past at all so how did the ghost know about it and why didn't he say something sooner? Billy might be telling the truth despite how weird this all was.

"We need to go there," Spencer said.

Billy gawked at him, "Are you serious, bro-han?"

Spencer shrugged, "It's worth a shot. I remembered it so maybe seeing it will jog my memory."

Billy thought for a moment then his face lit up, "Yeah! And if my guitar is there it'll prove I'm telling the truth!"

"Yeah!"

"But how are we gonna get there?"

"Mom and Dad are taking Jessica to a competition this weekend. We can take your limo."

Billy didn't look amused but didn't argue.

Friday evening Billy and Spencer left in the limo after Spencer's parents and sister left. He hoped that this time they'd be gone the whole weekend provided his sister behaved herself. Spencer packed a bag full of extra clothes, some food, water, and the old shoebox. Billy packed three suitcases worth of stuff despite Spence telling him they wouldn't be gone that long. Then they dressed Spencer up to look more like an adult like the time he tried to get that director gig. That way Spencer could sit in the driver's seat and give the appearance of a visible adult driver while it was Billy controlled the car. Spence just hoped they didn't get pulled over as Billy's expired license wouldn't save them.

Once they were out of the city and further away from populated areas Spencer moved to the passengers' seat. He shed the disguise and got comfortable enough to catch some sleep. Billy had no problem driving through the night and the windows of the limo should be tinted enough to not see through in the dark. It was a long drive and they only stopped for bathroom breaks.

Spencer woke up sometime the next morning to the sound of snoring, birds chirping, and the buzz of insects. He rubbed his eyes and looked over to see Billy sawing logs in the driver's seat, thankfully with the car parked and turned off. Spencer looked out the windows. They were surrounded by corn fields on either side. Dead ahead was an old house and behind the house, the cornfields turned into a massive wooded area. Billy had parked to the side of a pothole-riddled road which was being retaken by grass and weeds. He hoped Billy wouldn't have a meltdown about being in nature again. They weren't at the old cabin yet, but at Spencer's old house instead. It didn't look occupied.

Spencer shook the ghost, "Billy...Billy!"

Billy snorted, "Uuhhgg, no-no more autographs, people, the great BJC needs to rest his precious hands…"

"Wake up, pea-brain!"

"Huh-what?" Billy blinked awake and sat up.

"Come on, time to go," Spencer said as he grabbed his backpack, put the shoebox in it, and got back out of the limo.

The ghost groaned but followed Spence out of the car. Spencer walked up to the house and stopped short of the porch steps. Billy hovered beside him. The house looked like it hadn't been touched since they left. Last he had heard the developers who bought the house had planned on demolishing it and using the land for something else but they apparently haven't touched it yet. Billy zipped around Spencer and instead of going inside he went towards the back yard. Part of Spence wanted to check out the inside of the house but it probably wasn't a good idea. Best to leave that part of his past behind.

Spence was feeling a little silly right now. They'd traveled all this way on the dim hopes of finding some old guitar that might jog Spencer's memory. What for? The more Spencer thought about it the more ridiculous all of this seemed. He should have questioned Billy more. Spencer kept trying to tell himself there was no way the guitar would be here. Even if it was how would it help him remember anything IF there was anything to remember at all? But he had this nagging feeling that they had to find it. It was kind of like the feeling he got when Billy made that promise. It felt familiar and it bothered the heck out of him.

Spencer followed Billy to the backyard where the ghost was hovering in front of an old handmade play-set. It had rusted and broken over the years but half of the swing was still attached.

Billy was smirking, "I remember this hunk of junk. Your Dad built it. It probably wasn't safe but we still played on it."

Spencer opened his mouth but then shut it. He wanted to say he didn't remember that but something felt familiar again. He remembered his parents pushing him on the swings but also vaguely like someone else did once.

Billy zipped around the swings and towards the woods at the back of the house. Spencer followed. Billy and Spencer fought their way through the brush before it let out onto a deer path. The deer path eventually lead to a dirt road and they could either turn left or right. Billy went right. Spencer's sense of Deja Vu was making him dizzy. The ghost knew about the deer path behind his house and which way to turn onto the road. Spencer was starting to think that it couldn't be a coincidence at this point.

"I still don't understand how you forgot so easily," Spencer said as he rummaged through his backpack. He hoped that some food in his stomach would ease the dizziness.

Billy shrugged, "I don't know what to tell you, man. I mean I don't think it was that simple. It's more like...that whole week was completely gone till now. Like bro-nesia or something."

Spencer blinked, "Wait, so you were missing a whole week of your memories and you didn't question it for all those years?"

Billy's face twisted into a guilty smile, "What can I say? I party-hardied a lot back in the day and some of them got really wild! I mean, some of the things I did were-Uh...well that's not something someone your age needs to know about. What I'm saying is the Cobra maaaaay have blacked out a few times during parties and missing chunks of memory wasn't that unusual. I always just assumed I'd partied a little too hardie that week."

"For a whole week, dude?"

Billy cringed, "Yeah, that's a bit much now that I think about it. But I didn't question it for all those years."

Spencer pulled out two granola bars and handed one to Billy. Not that the ghost needed to eat but it made him feel less, you know, dead, "You really think the guitar will be here?"

"I hope so…" Billy whispered before he started eating.

For a while, the two walked and ate in silence. Both were too engrossed in their thoughts. Spencer was so zoned out he didn't even realize when Billy turned him down a hidden driveway.

"There it is!" Billy shouted.

Spencer snapped out of his daze and looked up. Ahead was a familiar rusty iron gate and fence. It was as beaten up and broken as he remembered. Billy zipped forward and removed the same broken metal bars that Spencer used to as a kid...

Spencer followed his friend through to the other side. The place looked like a junkyard. Piles of junk were stacked in pillars and walls all around. Each pile was organized into its own category: tires, metal objects, tools, cars, bikes, boxes, cardboard, wooden planks, steel rods, etc. It was a maze of stuff and if you didn't already know where to go you'd probably get lost. Looming nearby was an old abandoned log cabin. The thing reminded Spence of the stereotypical abandoned shacks he's seen in slasher films.

Billy kept the lead as he ducked and wove around the stuff. He took Spencer directly to the old fort. He even lifted the tarp hiding the secret entrance among some crates. This confirmed it for Spence that Billy had been here before and only Spence could have been the one to lead him here.

The fort was nothing special. The pallet of wood that once was a set stage for his toys was almost completely covered by ivy and dead leaves. Ivy also covered the wooden pallets and boxes used for the backdrop wall. A pair of old chairs and a shelving unit salvaged from somewhere in the yard sat on the other side. Miscellaneous objects sat on the shelves. Mostly weird or creepy objects Spencer used to find around the yard and play with as a kid. There also were old monster masks made out of objects from the yard.

Billy wasted no time blowing all the leaves out of the fort and tearing off the ivy and weeds. Spencer watched as Billy zipped around the fort checking each corner and under every object. He even lifted the pallet 'stage' where Spence had a hidden 'safe' made out of an old crate. Spence smiled and was more convinced Billy had been telling the truth; even if the guitar wasn't here.

"No, no, no!" Billy panicked, "It HAS to be here! It just has to be!"

"Billy, look...we don't need to find it. I-"

Billy was in his face in an instant with his hands on Spencer's shoulders, "It's gotta be around here somewhere! Come on, help me check the rest of the yard!" Before Spencer could say anything Billy had phased through the makeshift wall and was gone.

"The...rest of the yard?"

By rest of the yard, Billy meant searching under Every. Single. Scrap. Pile. By the time they combed through every pile, it was already well into the evening. Spencer was exhausted and wanted to go back to the limo to eat something since he left the rest of their food. But Billy insisted on checking again.

"Billy, just stop!"

But he didn't. He dug through a pile of old bumpers, piles of woods, piles of junk, flinging it everywhere, "It's gotta be here!"

"Dude, come on, it doesn't matter! Look, I didn't even have to show you how to get here. You did it all by yourself! The only way you could have known is if you've been here before right? So I believe you now, ok? Even if I don't remember it."

Billy still didn't stop, "But it's gotta be here, Spence! Keep looking!"

"Why is it so important to you?"

"Because what if you were right?!"

Spencer blinked, "What?

Billy stopped and hovered there panting for a moment, "What if you're right…?" he whispered.

Spencer still didn't understand so he waited for Billy to continue.

"What if it was all in my head? What if I really did just black out that week and try to fill in the gaps with some fever dream? What if I'm finally losing it, lil' bro?! I don't wanna live in a room with padded walls!" The ghost started to tear up.

Spencer prepared to dodge diva-tantrum ectoplasm tears, "Whoa, whoa, dude-"

"I thought if I could find that stupid guitar then it'd prove I really was here and it wasn't in my head. That we really had hung out kids and we were bros and I didn't break that stupid promise!" The musician broke down into actual sobs instead of the hissy fit Spence was expecting. Billy scrubbed at his face as he tried to wipe away his tears.

Spencer's mouth opened and closed but nothing came out. He didn't know what to say. Sure Billy cried and carried on a lot but seeing him break down like this was new, "Billy, come on, man. Look, it's gonna be ok! We're still bros. Even if we don't find the guitar I still believe you. I never told anyone about my secret fort but you knew about it and you knew where it was. I'm positive the stuff in the box belonged to both of us and I haven't seen those toys in years. How else could they wind up at your house among your stuff?"

This didn't seem to console the ghost.

Spencer sighed and wrapped an arm around Billy's shoulders, "Let's keep looking, ok? This place is big, it's gotta be out here somewhere."

Billy sniffled and nodded, "Ok…"

Spencer looked over to the old cabin, "Did we ever go in there?"

"It seems familiar but I don't remember, brosephs. I think I'm still missing some pieces."

"So let's check it out," Spencer started towards the house but Billy swooped in front of him.

"I-I don't think that's a good idea."

"What? Why not? We've looked everywhere else."

Billy shivered, "But that place is super creep-show, bro."

Spencer rolled his eyes and walked past him, "Don't be a baby, no one's lived in that dump for ages. Let's check it out, what's the worst that can happen?"

Billy groaned but followed close behind Spencer, hovering in a ball and biting his nails. The door was unlocked but something on the other side was blocking it from opening. With a shove from both boys, the door opened and something on the other side crashed to the floor. The pair peered in and even in the dim light they could see the inside of the house wasn't much better than the yard. Piles of stuff were stacked as high as the ceiling and shelves piled with more stuff lined the walls. Everything was dusty and covered in cobwebs. Spencer grabbed a flashlight from his backpack and crept in. Billy cowered behind Spencer and clung to the back of his shirt.

Spencer stepped carefully around and over stuff as he shined the light around looking for a red guitar. The main room had plenty of junk but no instruments. The hairs on the back of Spencer's neck stood up and he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched but he chalked it up to watching too many horror movies. This was just an old abandoned cabin. No one else was here. Spencer slowly made his way into the back rooms. Something fell next to them, both boys screamed and Billy wrapped himself around Spence like a boa constrictor. Then a rat scurried by.

"Phew! It was just a rat. Get off, Billy, it's not scary."

The ghost whined and unwound himself, "Those things carry diseases, dude! Bleh!"

Spencer shook his head and continued into the back room, not noticing that Billy was no longer follow him.

The back room was a little more organized. Tables and shelves were stacked with nick nacks and ornaments in little displays. But in the back, it looked like the largest display had been destroyed. It looked like it may have been a huge display of glass objects on glass shelves. Spencer crept towards to the back, all the while the feeling of being watched got stronger. As he approached the display something stood out on the floor among the glass. Something red.

There it was! Buried under broken glass and glass figures was an old broken red guitar covered in rhinestones and gems. The letters BJC were embedded near the bottom.

He carefully pushed aside the glass from the neck of the guitar and picked it up, "Billy I found it! Check it out!"

Spencer spun around, expecting Billy to still be clinging to him, but instead, he was met with a different face. An old, fuzzy, wrinkly thing with shining eyes that was inches from his own face. Spencer screamed and pinwheeled backward. His foot caught something and he fell onto his back. He was pretty sure he didn't land on any glass large enough to cut him but the breath was knocked out of him. He felt disoriented as he tried to breathe again but he did hear Billy calling him, then a high pitched scream. After a moment he felt the guitar taken from him.

"Back! Get back, you-you creep! Don-Don't make me use this!" He heard Billy's wavering shout.

Spencer blinked back tears and coughed until he sucked in a solid breath of air. But since the air was dusty and stale he just coughed more.

"Baruch Cohen? You're a ghost now?" a voice asked.

Spencer's eye snapped open and he sat up. Just in front of him hovered Billy who was holding the guitar over his shoulder like a baseball bat, threatening to swing it. To his shock, a few feet in front of them hovered another ghost. It was an old rotund man dressed in ragged clothes that looked like something Spencer's grandfather would wear. The man had a bristly mustache and he wore huge round glasses that obscured his eyes and reflected the light. Billy and Spencer looked at each other, then back at the ghost.

"You...you know his name? Like his actual name?"

The ghost tilted his head at Spencer and then looked back at Billy, "Oh dear…"

After moving back into the main room(and after Billy stopped freaking out about a ghost) the old man introduced himself as Frank Bower, former owner of the house. He had been, in his own words, a collector. Billy and Spencer would say hoarder but decided it best not to say that to his face. When Spencer asked how he could see him without wearing any of his stuff the old ghost simply looked skeptically at Billy and asked, _'Oh, so you can't do that yet?'_ Before Billy could throw a fit Spencer asked Frank to elaborate on how he knew them.

The old man passed away ages ago but kept haunting the house. If anyone tried to occupy the house or take his stuff he'd scare them till they left. Eventually, the house and all his stuff were abandoned for years until Spencer showed up when he was a child. By that point, it had been years since Frank had seen human life and the kid didn't take anything, only played on the property, so Frank didn't bother him. But then Billy showed up.

"So Billy really did visit!" Spencer gawked.

Frank nodded, "And took something from my property! That's the only reason why I tried to scare you two all those years ago."

"What?! I didn't take anything!" Billy argued.

"You took my camcorder!" Frank howled at Billy.

"What? That's bogus! The Cobra isn't a thief."

While the two argued Spencer retrieved the shoe box from his bag. He took out the old camcorder from it and handed it to Frank, "You mean this?"

Frank gasped and grabbed the camcorder, "Yes!"

Billy blinked at it, "But I don't remember taking it. I don't even remember meeting you, you creepy old man."

"Billy! Behave," Spencer hissed.

Frank grabbed the box from Spencer and stared at it, then at the camcorder. The objects glowed blue for a few moments and he sighed, "That is my fault."

Spencer and Billy shared a look again, "We don't follow…" Spencer said.

"I have had many years to lament the error of my ways. Back then I was angered over losing one of my precious possessions and I wanted to take something from you as well. So I placed a curse on the box to take something important from you. I didn't know what it would do until now. It appears that whatever objects were placed in the box took away those associated memories."

"So then how did Billy remember?"

The ghost pointed at the camcorder, "It has something to do with this. It has my ectoplasm on it. I used to use it to store my own memories so I would not forget my past life. After it was placed in your box it must have absorbed the memories the box stole. Since Billy is a ghost now his ectoplasm must have mixed with mine when he touched it and he was able to remember."

"Ew…" Billy cringed, "But there's some stuff I don't remember. Like taking your camera or leaving my awesome guitar here, either!"

"Perhaps it is because you left the guitar here that you do not have that memory," Frank pondered.

"Uh, hello? Not like it can fit in the box so why would the curse affect the guitar?"

"No, but the matching pick was in the box!" Spencer said as he took out the pick, "Frank, how do we undo the curse?"

The ghost pondered for a moment as he stared at the camcorder, "I have an idea."

Billy and Spencer blinked at one another then back at him. Frank grabbed a projector from one of his piles of stuff and some old wires. He brought out and rolled down a screen and set two chairs in front of it for the boys to sit in. Frank busied himself with hooking up the projector to the camcorder as the two sat in the chairs and waited. Frank spattered some ecto on the camera, attached another wire to it, and setting it on top of the box. Then the ghost took one of the wires attached to the camcorder and stuck it in Billy's ear, causing the pop-star to shudder and gag. Frank then spit some ecto on the camcorder. Spencer cocked an eyebrow opened his mouth but shut it when the projector turned on and a fuzzy image appeared on the screen. It slowly began to come into focus and Spencer understood what the ghost meant.


	2. Let's Go Back

A much younger, and more alive, Billy glared out the limousine window with his arms crossed. Nothing but farmlands for miles. How boring. The limo jolted again as it hit another pothole and disrupted his comfortable position. He let out a loud huff and glared at the woman on the seat across from him.

"Don't be like that, dear. We're only here for a week for the funeral and to visit our cousins then we leave for your next tour." His mother didn't even look up at him from her laptop.

Billy glared back out the window. He didn't understand why he had to go to this stupid funeral for some old person he'd never met. Apparently, they were related somehow, a distant relative or something. He had better things to do, like getting ready for his new tour or recording a new number one hit. His fans needed him more than this. Besides, they never spent this much time away. Billy was always too busy and at most, they'd usually only be away a day or two for other 'family emergencies'. Yet somehow, his mother managed to convince his managers and producers to give them a whole week off. She must have signed some deal with the devil. Billy also suspected she had an ulterior motive for the extended stay.

"Now, Baruch-"

"Billy."

His mother raised an eyebrow, "Baruch, I also want to use this little vacation to go over your recent...shows."

Yup, there it was.

"I understand you're a performer and you may want to act a certain way to entertain the audience but some of your recent acts have me a little concerned."

Here we go.

"This isn't what I imagined for you when I took you to that talent show on TV when you were six. I have no problem with you performing but your outfits and acts are getting out of hand."

Billy rolled his eyes, "So what? People love it."

"I thought some of your costumes were bad enough but dressing up like a cheerleader, mermaid, or a princess is a little weird for a boy, don't you think?"

"It's not weird!" Billy snapped. She raised an eyebrow again. God, he hated that.

"Your partying is also getting out of control. Who knows what you're getting yourself into or the kinds of people you're involved with."

"What do you care?"

She took out a recent tabloid covering a story of his latest after party incident. So what if he ran across LL Coolio's yard in his underwear? Publicity is publicity and he totally upstaged Miss Blah Blah's alleged wardrobe malfunction from last week. Cobraheads were going insane over the pictures so sales were sky high.

He shrugged at her and tried to change the subject, "So when are we getting to their city?"

"Pardon?"

"Duh, the place these people live!"

"They live out here, we should be there soon."

He balked, "Out...here? Like...like around-…"

"Farms?"

"NATURE?!"

"Yes, Baruch. You can't freak out every time you step outside the city."

"But what's there to even do?! There's no airport to hang out on their jet. Nowhere for the yacht and how am I going to go shopping or party if there's no city?!"

His mother sighed, "Well, first of all, they don't have a jet or a yacht. There's a small town nearby but I doubt you'll find much to shop for and I won't have you partying this week. At. All."

"But what am I supposed to do out here for a WHOLE WEEK?"

"I want you to use this time to focus and think about your recent escapades and consider the image it paints of us."

"Us," Billy hissed under his breath. What should she care, his fame made her rich, didn't it? They had lots of money so who cares how he dresses or acts. That was his concern, not hers. She shouldn't be criticizing. He'd just send her off on another shopping spree when they got home. That usually cooled her off for a bit.

"This is punishment, isn't it? I'm going to die of boredom out here."

"Don't be overdramatic. I'm sure you'll find something to keep yourself entertained. If I recall some of your cousins are kids and they might be around your age, so you'll have someone to play with."

What was he, a child? The only 'playing' he did anymore was on an instrument. Then Billy got an idea. The thought of having someone to hang out with was enticing. If they were around his age they must know of Billy Joe Cobra and would obviously be fans. After all, who doesn't love the great BJC? He rubbed his chin and smirked. Having fans around would give him the opportunity to practice some new songs, outfits, and acts and at least they wouldn't judge him like his mom. He was glad he secretly brought along a bag with some of his performing stuff. And having someone fawning over him would remind him of home. This trip might not be so bad after all.

But any happy thoughts he may have had before died when they arrived. Their cousins' house was only two stories. Only two! Billy couldn't believe it. These people must be destitute. And there weren't any other houses around! Just farms and woods. They had passed through the tiny town and run down suburbs miles ago. They were truly in the middle of nowhere.

Billy glared at his mom but before he could open his mouth an excited cheer came from the house. His head whipped around to see two adults walking down the porch steps towards them. The man was tall and blonde with a small beard while the woman had long red hair and she was carrying a dark haired baby. A. Baby. Oh no. Both adults looked too cheery and too unfashionably dressed for Billy's liking...

"We were so excited when you called and said you'd be visiting this week!" The redhead cheered and have a half hug to Billy's mom before looking at Billy, "and we're so honored that this famous young man took some time off to see us! I'm your cousin Jane Wright, and this is my husband Hugh."

Billy forced a smile and shook hands with the pair. Then discreetly wiped his hand on his jeans.

"And this-" Jane said cradling the baby, "Is our little Jessica."

Billy's smile got a little bigger and more forced as he nodded. Jane looked around for a moment before looking behind her and smiling.

"Say hi, Spencer," she stepped to the side a little to reveal the small boy hiding behind her.

The boy was looking down and Billy couldn't see his face underneath the mop of brown hair. He was wearing a white and red shirt with a little alien symbol on it and green cargo shorts. After a beat, he looked up at Billy with big brown eyes. Billy blinked at him then grimaced. The kid must have noticed this because he shrunk back behind Jane.

Billy glared at his mom and whispered to her, "I thought you said the kids would be around my age? Not some brats."

She shrugged, "Well, I didn't know exactly how old they were. Now behave."

Billy crossed his arms and glared at the dirt. The adults continued to chatter and catch up on life but he drowned them out. A nasty bug on the ground started crawling towards his new custom Jackalope-skin boots and he stepped away from it but bumped into something.

"Oh! My apologies, Mr. Cobra," the limo driver said as he continued lugging one of Billy's suitcases towards the house.

Billy watched him for a moment before pulling his mom aside, "What is he doing?"

She blinked, "Bringing our bags in, of course."

"Why?"

"What do you mean why? Because we're staying here, silly."

Billy gawked. They were staying...HERE? In this tiny house with children around and not in a luxury hotel? Around farms and woods? Oh, no she couldn't be serious. It had to be a joke. But his mom went back to chatting with the adults and the driver continued taking their bags in. Billy's mind couldn't process all this, it was too much at once. Then he spotted the driver carrying an instrument case.

"Ah! No!" He ran and snatched it from the frazzled man, "I told you before not to touch the Cobra's guitar!"

The driver stuttered out an apology and hurried back to the limo. The adults were staring at him and Billy felt his face heat up.

"Please excuse, Baruch. He's very protective over his instruments."

"That's ok! Us great artists have to protect our babies!" Hugh beamed while holding up a screwdriver. Billy blinked, what on Earth was this man talking about?

"Well let's get you settled, shall we?" Jane beamed and led them inside. Billy groaned but followed. He spotted the kid staring at him but Billy stuck his tongue out and Spencer ran off somewhere. Billy glanced over his shoulder to see the limo driving down the road and he wished he was in it.

Billy was as unimpressed by the inside as he was with the outside. Probably more so. Walking in from the porch led to a small room they called a 'mudroom' which was just a place for putting shoes and coats. A short hallway leads to the living room which had decor which must have come from the '70s. The only TV they had was a tiny one up on a shelf that had weird wires sticking out the top. There was also a half bathroom and stairway leading upstairs. On the other side, an open doorway led to the kitchen with a small eating area, not even fit to be called a dining room. A door between the kitchen and the small eating area led to the backyard. Another doorway in the kitchen would bring them to the basement which Billy declined to see. Billy was scared to see the rest of the house.

The Wrights had set up a pull out sofa from the couch in the living room for his mom to use. Then they went upstairs. Somehow it seemed even smaller than the rest of the house. There were only two bedrooms and a full bathroom. One bedroom belonged to Jane and Hugh and the other to the kids.

Jane took them into the kids' room and smile at Billy, "We'll set you up in here, dear."

Billy gawked, "With the brat-er-babies?!"

Jane laughed, "Oh, don't worry. We moved Jessica's crib to our room so it's just you boys."

Clearly, Jane wasn't seeing the problem with him sleeping in a kids room. He turned to his mother and whispered, "Can't we stay in a hotel or something?"

"The nearest hotel isn't for miles," she whispered back with a sly grin.

Then something clanged and clanked towards them from the hall. Billy peered out to see his luggage floating towards him.

"Whoa!" He stumbled out of the way as it came through the door and tumbled to the floor. Some weird robot thing had been carrying it but now sat motionless half under a suitcase.

Hugh peeked through the door a moment later holding a remote control, "Hmm...guess I still need to work the kinks out of this one." He pulled the machine out from under the suitcase only for it to break apart. The man smiled sheepishly before gathering up the parts and scurrying away. Then the baby started crying

"Uuuhh, heheh, why don't you two make yourselves at home and we'll have dinner ready in a few hours," Jane said and she followed her husband.

Billy watched the odd pair go before looking at the room. The kids' room was tiny with a small bed in the corner and a small desk in another corner. Lots of toys scattered the floor and on shelves. A slightly larger bubble-looking mattress was on the floor opposite the small bed with a pillow and blanket on it. He assumed this was where he was supposed to sleep.

Billy glared at the inflated mattress, "And what is this?"

"I think it's called an air mattress," his mother answered in an uninterested tone.

"I can't sleep on this! Don't they know who I am? I'm a superstar! How am I gonna get my beauty sleep on this thing? Can't they afford a guest room or something in this house?! Or at least a decent bed?"

His mother shook her head, "It's that or next to me on the pull-out."

Billy growled and pulled at his hair. That was way worse. His mom chuckled.

"Get comfortable. Oh, and be nice to the kids. If I hear that you're misbehaving like you usually do, then you can forget about getting that new yacht for your birthday." and with that, she closed the door and left.

Billy glared at the door, making an obscene gesture at it with his hand. He set his guitar case gently on the floor before collapsing on the mattress. It bounced and moved a bit with his weight before settling. He sighed and looked to the other, small bed, wondering if he could fit on it when he spotted something under the bed. The kid. Spencer grinned at him and waved. Billy glared and shifted so he was on his side with the back to the kid. This 'vacation' was going to suck.

Billy wasn't sure when he'd fallen asleep or for how long he was out but that happened a lot lately. He must have been partying again. What he was sure of was that he was thirsty.

"Water," He coughed and didn't bother opening his eyes. One of his people was always nearby to get him some when he woke up. But nothing came. He started snapping his fingers and didn't stop until a cup was shoved into his hand. He sat up, took a swig from it and swallowed. Yuck, it was only lukewarm and not chilled to perfection like he preferred...and the cup was weird. It had a spout. Billy's eyes snapped open. It was a child's sippy cup. He blinked and looked over expecting to see one of his maids only to see a brown haired kid. Oh, right, they were staying with some distant relatives…Then it hit him. Billy dropped the cup and started whipping his tongue with his hands and spitting.

"Ew! Ew, gross!"

The kid started to laugh like it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen.

Billy glared at him, "Why would you give me that?!"

The little what's-his-face blinked at him, "Cuz you asked."

"Uhg!" Billy threw himself off the air mattress and to one of his suitcases. He dug out his hidden makeup bag where his toothbrush was and stormed off to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

After he finished he left the bag in the bathroom and went downstairs since he didn't want to go back to the kids' room and see the brat again. He'd just get it later. Downstairs in the living room, Billy's mother was busy clattering away on her laptop again as the Wrights cooked in the kitchen. The baby was sitting in a high chair and playing with some toys. Or more like destroying. The kid had strength on her. Billy shivered and headed outside.

He walked around the perimeter of the property. It was pathetic. No statues, no fountains, not even a pool! Even their car looked like something only old people drove. Their driveway was a dirt jut out from the road that led all the way back to the tiny town. Corn fields lined both sides of the road. Behind the house was a large wooded area that looked like it went on for forever. It gave Billy the chills. He went to the backyard where there was an attempted garden next to a very small covered back porch. The garden looked like they'd been trying to grow things but nothing was taking. A big homemade trellis lined half of the back wall of the house with nothing growing on it but weeds. In the yard was a homemade play set for the kids. Billy questioned its stability.

Billy decided there was nothing interesting out here so he went back inside and upstairs. He didn't see the kid in the room anymore and he smirked. The brat must be making himself scarce. Good. BJC didn't hang out with children.

Billy opened the window to air out the smell of 'child' in the room. The small back porch awning jutted out below the window and to the right of it was the trellis. The awning didn't appear to be that steep. If he climbed on it he should be able to sit comfortably. The trellis next to it might be sturdy enough to climb down. Billy smirked and filed this knowledge away for later use.

Billy sighed, grabbed his guitar case and opened it. Inside was his most prized possession. A 'custom gemstone embedded' red acoustic guitar with a matching pick that his managers got him for his first number one hit single. The guitar and the pick both had the initials of his new name embedded on them. Billy liked to think of the instrument as a symbol of his awesome new star-studded life and it went everywhere with him even if he didn't use it at in live shows. Sometimes his acts got a little too rambunctious and he didn't want to make a scratch on this baby.

He sat on the mattress and started to strum on it. At first, it was nothing in particular until he found a tune he liked and he started to experiment with it. He played around with a melody and started to hum along. After a few moments, he finally noticed he wasn't alone. The kid was sitting a few feet away from him on the floor and staring at him. Billy stopped playing and stared back and for a little while, that's all they did. Then the kid's eyes shifted down to the guitar.

"Coool!" His eyes widened sparked at the sight of it and he reached for the guitar. Billy slapped it away.

"Whoa, no! This thing is worth more than you'll ever make in your entire life and far more precious! Don't EVER touch it!"

The kid's eyes immediately started to tear up. Oh hell…

"Whoa, whoa, hey don't-uh, don't cry!" Billy really didn't need his mother getting on his case for making some little brat upset, "Look, why don't I play you a song, ok?" That always made people happy. But then again, who wasn't happy when they heard one of his songs?

The kid blinked, still teary-eyed, but nodded.

"Uh...what was your name?"

"Sp-*sniff*-Spencer…"

Billy straightened up, "Ok, Spencer, prepare yourself cuz you're about to be dazzled by the musical genius that is Billy Joe Cobra!" He raised his guitar pick to the strings and-

"I thought your mom called you Bara-ch."

-he hit the string wrong and it twanged. Oh. My. God.

"Wait, no, it was Barrr-...Bahhhroo-Baarootch…"

"It's Billy. Billy Joe Cobra! Duh, don't you recognize me?"

Spencer blinked, "But we just met?"

Billy gawked. Did this kid really not know who he was? "Uuhhh, hello? I'm a superstar! You've definitely seen me on TV or heard my songs on the radio! You've at least seen my face on a magazine, I'm sure!"

Spencer shook his head, "I like watching movies."

Billy smiled, "Then you've gotta have seen me! I've already starred in this one awesome romantic comedy!"

The kid made a face, "Not those kinda movies."

"Wha?"

A huge grin spread over Spencer's face as he grabbed something from the floor and held it up to Billy's face. A little too close because all Billy saw was a grotesque hairy face with terrifying eyes and rows of teeth. He screamed, NOT in a girly way, and fell back on the mattress.

"Oh...sorry."

That brat better be sorry! Billy bolted up and glared at the kid who curled in on himself and looked upset. The kid's expression made Billy feel funny and the words died in his throat. Huh...weird. Then he noticed the kid hugging the movie case.

Billy snatched the case from the kid and looked at it. Seeing it from a normal distance Billy could make out it was a horror film. But now that it wasn't inches from his face the monster on the front didn't look as scary. It looked like a cheap B-rate or independent film and the so-called werewolf on the front was only a terrible Halloween mask. It still creeped him out. Billy wasn't fond of anything having to do with horror so he was surprised that this little kid was. Spencer suddenly snatched the case back and stuffed it under the tiny bed.

Billy blinked, "Hey, why did you put it under there?"

The kid glanced over at him and tugged at the hem of his shirt. Just as Spencer opened his mouth they heard Jane shout that dinner was ready. Billy got up and headed downstairs without waiting for the kid. Just because his mom told him to behave didn't mean he had to make friends with some distant relatives who might as well have been complete strangers.


	3. Reconciliation

The table was set with a place for everyone, even for the baby in the high chair. He grimaced and took one of the seats far from the baby. Spencer came down a few moments later and Jane lifted him into the chair next to his sister. Since Spencer was still little he sat on a stack of books on the chair. Billy ignored him when the kid looked over. Jane set a plate down in front of Billy that was piled with meat, potatoes, and a vegetable of some sort. At least the food didn't look diseased or poisoned. Billy's mom came in a little later and she got her own plate with only a small helping of vegetables. Oh right, she was on some new diet or something. Although, she might have the right idea.

Billy stared suspiciously at the plate in front of him. Given how these people lived he wasn't sure he wanted to know what their food tasted like. But he hadn't eaten since this morning and he was hungry. He poked a small piece of food with his fork and nibbled it. He had been prepared to suppress a gag but found he didn't need to. It was...actually really good. Like really, REALLY good and he's eaten gourmet meals made by international five-star chefs! Billy no longer hesitated and started to dig in.

Once he had overheard a backup dancer complaining about missing a good home cooked meal but he never understood what she meant until now. Before he got famous his mom never made anything besides pre-made dishes. If Jane cooked like this all the time he might hire her to be his personal chef.

Jane giggled, "I'm glad you like it! And for dessert, I'm making my triple special fudge gut-busting lights out brownies! They're all the rage at the office."

Ooohh maaaan did those sound amazing! Billy made sure to save room for dessert.

As they ate he listen to the adults' chatter for once. He learned that Jane and Hugh worked as accountants but had other aspirations. Jane wanted to style hair and Hugh fancied himself a handyman and inventor. That explained the robot and garage full of projects Billy saw earlier. Billy's mother went on about Billy's successes but of course, she sugarcoated a lot of his recent 'activities'. He glanced over at Spencer to make sure he was listening and getting a proper education on the fabulous BJC. But the kid was frowning and picking at his food. Billy's eyebrows furrowed. What, did the kid not like his mom's awesome cooking?

After dinner, Spencer didn't want dessert. Weird. So Jane put him and the baby to bed while Billy's mother went to wash up and Billy enjoyed some delicious brownies. Hugh retired to the garage to work on some of his, uh…'projects'. But man, oh man, were the brownies amazing! He could eat these till he-

"Baruch! Get up here!" his mother shouted.

Billy choked on a piece of brownie and coughed until his throat was clear, "Busy!" he croaked.

"NOW!"

Billy sighed. What does she want? He stuffed the last bite of brownie in his face before stomping upstairs. In the hallway outside of the bathroom stood his mother holding his makeup bag. He'd forgotten his makeup bag in the bathroom. Something uncomfortable settled in Billy's gut and it wasn't because of Jane's cooking. If it only had foundations and powders inside he could explain it was to practice for when he was on stage or at a photo shoot. But he'd brought along some of his flashier makeup to practice with too. His mother pulled out a sparkly pink eyeliner pen. That was given to him by a drag queen at an afterparty who taught him how to do a flawless wingtip. He'd used it for his cheerleader costume.

"I thought I told you not to bring this stuff along."

"Uh...that's not mine! It must be Janes!" He forced a grin.

She cocked an eyebrow and turned the bag around. Embroidered on the front with sequins were the initials BJC. Of course…

"Uuuhhh-I-"

She zipped the bag closed, "I'm holding onto this until the end of the trip."

"What? You can't do that! It's mine!"

"We wouldn't be having this problem if you'd left it behind like I asked. I'm holding onto it until this trip is over and we're not discussing it anymore."

"But-but-I"

His mother frowned, "I told you I want you to use this week to reconsider your recent behaviors."

Oh, he was mad now. "You didn't say reconsider you said to think about it, and I am. I'm thinking about what eyeshadow will match the Xavier Quinn avant-garde outfit I plan on wearing at the Fame Awards," he smirked.

"You would do best to abandon those...odd habits, dear. They're weird and think of your future. People think it's cute now but the older you get the weirder it'll be." her nose wrinkled as if she smelled something foul.

Billy bristled and he but his bit his lip. Weird. He was starting to hate that word, "What do you know?!"

He ran into the kid's room and slammed the door. It was dark. Why was it dark? Oh, right, Jane put the brat to bed. Billy grumbled. He wanted to not care. He wanted to turn on the light and scream and break something but his Mom was already upset with him. If he woke the kid and made the brat cry he'd be in even bigger trouble.

Billy sighed. He was too mad and still wide awake from taking that nap earlier. Besides, he was accustomed to staying up late and partying. But he was stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do and laying in bed sulking didn't sound too bad at the moment. He felt around for the bed but stepped on something hard and pointy.

"Ouch!" Billy hissed as he toppled to the floor. He groaned and lay there for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. The moon was out tonight and provided some dim lighting through the window. The window! Lightbulb moment. He sat up and felt around for his guitar case. He found it and removed the guitar and pick. Billy slung the guitar over his back with the strap and stuffed the pick in his pocket. The thing he'd stepped on was a building block toy. He picked it up and tip-toed over to the window.

He opened the window and slipped out. Once on the back porch roof, he slowly closed the window and placed the block between the window sill and window so it didn't close all the way. The last thing he needed was to lock himself out and do the walk of shame through the front door. His mom would have a cow. Billy crawled over to the trellis and climbed down, praying it wouldn't break. Once on the ground he let out his held breath and looked around. Now what…?

All around was nothing but cornfields or woods. Both were a lot creepier at night. Billy looked at the makeshift play-set. It would have to do he supposed and it was away from the back door so no one should be able to see him from the window. He walked over, sat on one of the swings, adjusted his guitar and got out the pick so he could play it. He sat for a minute or two breathing and calming down.

Billy then pouted and started to strummed away, "I'm not weird…"

"Not weird," he heard a voice echo.

Billy screamed, totally not in a girly way, and braced himself so he didn't fall off the swing. He looked over his shoulder and saw Spencer standing a few feet away.

Billy glared, "What do you want? Wait-What did you say?"

Spencer mumbled something while looking at his shoes but Billy couldn't hear.

"Uuuhh, helloooo? I asked what you said!"

The kid jumped a little, "I-I said not weird."

"Not...weird? Hold the phone, how'd you get out here?"

Spencer pointed up at the window. It was open now.

Billy balked, "You...crawled out the window and came down the trellis?"

Spencer nodded.

"Duuuudde, that's super dangerous!"

The kid tilted his head, "You did it."

Billy rolled his eyes, "I mean for a kid your age."

"It's ok, I've done it before," Spencer walked over to the play-set and went into the playhouse. Billy watched as the kid grabbed something from inside and come back out, purposefully holding it so Billy couldn't see it. Then the kid headed back towards the trellis.

"Whacha got there?"

Spencer froze but didn't turn to look at him. Billy remembered their encounter earlier with the movie and he felt uneasy. He wondered if this was that 'guilt' feeling his mom once told him about but he didn't think existed.

"Look, I'm ssss-ssoooorry about before," God he hating apologizing, "I'm not gonna bite your head off, ok? I'm just...curious." and really bored.

Spencer looked skeptical for a moment before walking back over and sitting on the swing next to Billy's. Billy leaned away as Spencer held out an action figure. Billy leaned back in to look at it. It was a zombie. Billy jolted a little and looked at the kid but Spencer was looking right at him, studying his reaction.

Billy suppressed his shiver, "You, uh...like that kinda stuff, huh?

Spencer nodded and fiddled with the toy.

Billy blinked at him, "Sooo...why are your toys out here and your movies under your bed? Do your parents not like it?"

The kid shook his head, "Mom and Dad play with me and this stuff all the time! Or at least we used to. I hide them so they don't scare my sister. I did that once and Mom and Dad didn't like that so if she's in the room I can't put stuff out."

"Oh," was all Billy could think to say.

Spencer looked at the playhouse, "The three of us used to play here too but now we don't cuz they need to take care of her a lot. So I play here with Zomboy."

Spence smiled and held up the toy as if it was an award statue. As if on cue they heard wailing from the house. Billy grimaced and was suddenly thankful to be an only child, "That blows, lil' dude…But can't you play with your friends instead or something?"

The frown returned and Spencer held the toy to his chest.

"What?"

"I don't have any friends at school. They say I'm a weirdo cuz I like scary movies."

Billy's grip on the swing rope tightened. He really, really hated that word.

Spencer then looked up at him with his big teary brown eyes, "Do you think I'm weird cuz I like monsters?"

Billy paused for a moment to think. A while ago he may have said yes but then he'd be just like his mom and that thought made him angry. He shook his head, "Sure the stuff scares me so I'm not that into it but that doesn't make you weird for liking it. Not everyone likes the same stuff. Well, except when it comes to me, everyone loves BJC."

"But...I'm not a weirdo?"

Billy shook his head, "Nope!"

Spencer's face lit up like a Christmas tree. Billy coughed and focused on strumming his guitar again. He wasn't very good with mushy stuff. He had people to take care of that for him. For a while they just sat there, Billy playing the guitar and Spencer fiddling with his toy.

"Why did you and your mom fight?"

Oh...the kid had heard that huh? Billy debated lying or not telling the kid but he wanted someone to talk to. When he was mad someone from his entourage was always around to listen to him complain. But they weren't here and they were miles from civilization so the kid would have to do for now.

"I perform on stage a lot and wearing the same outfits and acting the same way gets boring. So I like to dress up sometimes. Put on a show, ya know? Something different and fun."

Spencer tilted his head, "Like what?"

Billy shrugged and kicked out his feet so the swing moved a little, "Depends on where I perform or what I do. Sometimes it's a football player, a pilot, a soldier, a prince, a firefighter, or a nice suit," he stopped the swing and paused, "or the latest avant-garde or couture fashion trend. Sometimes...it's a cheerleader or dancer...or a princess...or just some cool looking makeup. But my mom doesn't like that stuff...she says it's-" he choked on the word and took a deep breath, "weird."

There was a pause and that uncomfortable feeling in Billy's gut returned. For a moment he thought the kid would say the same thing she did.

"I don't think it's weird."

Billy's head jerked to look at him, "Huh?"

"It's not weird."

Billy stared, for how long he didn't know. He was dumbstruck. This...kid of all people could make him, the great Billy Joe Cobra, speechless? No that couldn't be. He shook his head, "You're just a brat, what do you know?"

The kid didn't answer right away and Billy thought he won.

"I've seen people wear stuff like that before," Spencer said.

Billy's face scrunched up, "You have?"

Spencer nodded, "In movies!"

"In movies?" Of course...

Spencer nodded eagerly, "Yeah! Mom calls them actors. I saw one actor who was a bad guy in this one movie, then a space alien in another movie, then a pretty lady who turned out to be a monster!"

Billy rubbed his face, "That's different."

"How?"

Billy glared and opened his mouth but stopped. How exactly? "It...it just is!"

Spencer looked confused and tilted his head, "Kay, but I still don't think it's weird."

Billy stared at the kid as he was once again at a loss for words. Maybe the kid was right. It wasn't that different, was it? Why should it be weird for him but ok for a simple actor in a stupid movie?

"I still wish the kids at school wouldn't call me weird…"

Billy looked over at the pouting kid. Oh, geez. If he really was related to this kid he couldn't have him sulking. It would make Billy look bad to have some cousin who acts like some hermit or goblin hoarding a secret. He needed some Cobra pointers.

"You just need to be confident, lil' dude! Don't let some dumb haters knock you cuz you like something different. Show em your stuff. Flaunt it! If you're anything like the Cobra then you'll get some peeps to back you up and who knows? One day you might become famous for it."

Spencer blinked, "How?"

Billy pondered this for a second, "Good question. Don't worry, you'll think of something. But don't be afraid to strut your stuff. The Cobra sure isn't! We're both mega-normal."

A bright smile burst across the kid's face, "Yeah! Mega-normal!"

"See? Now you're getting it!" Billy grinned and started playing a melody on the guitar. For a while, Spencer watched him.

"You're good," he said.

"Duh! I'm the great BJC, after all!" Billy beamed but the kid still looked like he didn't understand. Ah well, that was fine. He'd make the kid a Cobrahead sooner or later. Then Billy remembered the plan he concocted on the way here, "Hey, you wanna listen to some of my new song ideas? Maybe help me figure out some outfits and stuff for my performances?

Spencer's face lit up again and he nodded.

"Ok, here we go!"

Billy played, sang, and explained his ideas for performances to the kid for a long time. Spence listened eagerly and input his opinion when Billy asked. Of course, a lot of his ideas involved horror or were childish but they weren't all bad. Then Billy listened as Spencer gushed over some of his favorite movies and monsters and told Billy some of his own ideas for scary stories. They talked well into the night, way past the kids' bedtime and past when the adults went to bed. It was only when Spencer started to yawn did they head back in through the window and go to bed. As Billy drifted off he wondered when the last time it was that he felt so content when going to sleep instead of wasted from performing or partying. He kind of like it.

It was evident that they stayed up way too late the next morning when Spencer's mom had to drag the kid out of bed to get ready for school. Billy didn't even get up to eat breakfast and just slept in. The next time he was aware of the world was when he woke around noon, which was normal for him actually…

After he showered and dressed he trotted downstairs to his meet his mother's stern glare. She wasn't happy that he'd been up most of the night and kept the kid up as well but she was willing to forgive him this once. When the Wrights had asked their son why he was so tired he excitedly explained that he'd been talking with Billy all night about music and horror movies. Thankfully, he left out the part about sneaking out the window. Jane and Hugh were so happy Spencer had made a 'friend' that they weren't even mad. Billy's mom told him not to do it again but he ignored her and went into the kitchen to nibble on some cereal and toast.

A 'friend', huh? Not a bad thought. Sure, he had his entourage back home but somehow it didn't feel the same. Billy shook his head. Enough with the girly thoughts. He looked at the clock. Jane, Hugh, and Spencer wouldn't be home for a few more hours and the baby was dropped off with a sitter. Mrs. Meatball or Meatgrinder or something like that. So it was just him and his mom for a few hours. Bleh. Not like she paid him any attention anyway. She was glued to her laptop again, probably emailing with his managers about boring adult stuff.

So he had time to kill. He went back upstairs to the kids' room and nosed around a bit. Typical kids' stuff, toys, coloring and picture books, crayons and drawings on the walls...But under Spencer's bed were some of his horror stuff. There were quite a few VHS tapes of B-rated horror movies. Nothing too scary possibly because his parents thought he was still too young. A lot of the movies looked like older films back when using puppets and obvious cheesy special effects were still a thing. Some were even in black and white! Billy had never seen a black and white movie before. Only a handful of the movies looked a little more recent but still looked terrible. Billy might not mind watching some stuff like this. He might even get some laughs over the horrible dialogue and acting. He might watch one with the kid later.

Billy also found some papers under the bed. They were scribbles of monster drawings. Some Billy recognized and some he assumed the kid made up. A few papers also had childish writing on them. From what Billy could read they seemed to be some of Spencer's scary story ideas. Hm...maybe the kid could write a book or a comic or something. He put the papers and movies back.

Bored again he looked over at his suitcases and got an idea. He snuck downstairs. His mom was sitting at the kitchen table and preoccupied with her laptop. Billy went over to her suitcase and found the makeup bag. She would never notice if he took a few things from it and just left the bag where it was. He snickered and went back upstairs.


	4. FORT-ification

Billy winked at his appearance in the mirror, then frowned. He was one handsome devil but his eyeliner was still off. He sighed and leaned in again, trying to get it just right. If he was going to pull off this outfit then his makeup needed to be on point. He could already see the crowds ecstatic response to his awesome costume and the media attention it would get him. Tickets for his next tour would sell out in an INSTANT after he pulled this off. No matter what his mom or his manager said an occasional stunt like this always made them tons of money. It also gave his adoring fans something yummy to look at.

On his next try, he finally got it the way he wanted it. He stared at his reflection, probably longer than necessary, and made a kissy face, "I am one good looking bro if I did say so myself."

Billy strutted back to the kids' room and opened one of his suitcases. He pulled out a brightly colored shoe box that was hidden near the bottom. From there he took out a pair of black lace-up studded boots that had a short heel and put them on. He checked himself out in the mirror again. Almost perfect. Now he just needed his custom purple and black studded leather crop jacket to be finished by his designer and his sexy punk costume would be finished. Then he could finish his detective costume. The phone downstairs rang but Billy didn't notice. He continued to fantasize about some of his costume ideas and some Spence recommended as he rummaged through his suitcases.

"Baruch! Can you come down here?" his mother called.

Billy sighed and rolled his eyes but stomped downstairs anyway, "Yes, mother dearest?"

"Jane called. She and Hugh are working late so I need you to go to the school and pick up your cousin from school." His mother said as her fingers tapped away at the keyboard. She didn't even bother looking up.

Billy crossed his arms, "Pick up the kid with what? There's no car here."

"Well you'll have to walk then; it's only two miles into town. No one else is available to pick him up and they don't want him walking home alone."

"So you go then. Or call a cab."

"This is a small town, dear, there are no cabs. I'm far too busy coordinating your next few shows with your manager and I have a conference call coming in soon. Besides, I already called the school and gave them your name and told them you'll be right over."

Billy glared, "All my shoes are brand new, I'm not getting them dirty!"

His mother sighed and finally looked at him. Billy could tell that whatever she was going to say left her as soon as she did. Then he realized he didn't take off the makeup yet. Shit.

His mother glared daggers, "I thought I told you to stop this weirdness and where did you get that makeup? You better not have taken Jane's."

Billy glared back, he wasn't going to be ashamed, "No, I didn't take it, it's MINE. I'm Billy Joe Cobra, I can do whatever and dress however I want! It's not like it affects you at all. You're rich thanks to me so why do you care?"

"You are Baruch Cohen and what you decide to do affects the whole family's image. I don't want you putting on any more weird outfits or using that ridiculous stage name. I won't have you jeopardizing everything we've worked for."

"Everything we've worked for? HA! More like what I've worked for! I'm the star and what I want to do with my life is my business. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's weird!"

She narrowed her eyes, "I just want you to act a little more normal. You want to keep doing music for your career and keep your fame and fortune, right? Lest you end up like your fath-"

"DON'T bring him into this. And I am mega-normal!" He didn't give her the chance to clap back. Billy ran to the front door, threw it open and stormed out.

"Where do you think you're going?!" his mother yelled.

"To pick up Spencer!" he shouted and broke into a run.

It was a mile and a half walk on the old country roads and another half mile through the ratty suburban area. Billy trudged along the old broken sidewalk towards the school. His boots were probably ruined by now but he was so tired he almost didn't care. Almost. He grumbled to himself how this kid better appreciate that the great Billy Joe Cobra came to get him. Thousands of people would kill for the opportunity. Even after having taken a long break halfway there he was exhausted. He feet and legs ached, he was thirsty, wanted nothing more than a deep muscle massage from his personal masseuse and a nap. He swore when he got his driver's license he was buying his own limo and taking it everywhere so something like this didn't happen again. The Cobra wasn't a cardio kind of guy, no matter what his personal trainer said.

At least it took his mind off of the fight with his mom. He balled his fists as he approached the school. It was smaller than he expected, only one story and likely no more than a dozen or so rooms. There was a giant oak tree in the small grassy knoll out front. The school looked older than the tree. A cracking cement patio lead to a pair of glass double doors. He trudged up the doors and tried to fling them open with his usual flare. It was heavier than he thought it'd be and he ended up stumbling through instead. He hoped no one saw that…

"School's about to close," came a hoarse voice.

Billy looked over to see a small receptionist's desk against the wall with some old crone hunched over it. Billy walked over to her and almost vomited. She smelled as old as she looked and he took a step back.

He flashed her the brightest model smile he could muster without gagging, "I'm here to pick up a kid."

She wasn't fazed, "Name?"

"Billy Joe Cobra."

"Afraid we don't have a kid with that name at our school, sir."

"No, that's MY name! You know, the famous pop-star Billy Joe Cobra."

She raised an eyebrow at him. Oh geez, was she as dense as the kid when it came to his fame?

"I need the name of the child you are picking up, young man."

Billy frowned. Oh. "Uh...Spencer Wright."

The receptionist spent an awfully long time looking a list on her desk, "Mmmhhmm...ah yes, he's the last one still here. But I'm afraid I don't see a 'Billy Joe Cobra' listed to pick this child up."

Billy mentally cursed his mother, "Baruch Cohen...The kid is my cousin."

She took a sticky note with his and Spencer's names off of her desk, "Oooohh yes, someone called and said that. Go wait outside. I'll bring Spencer out in a moment."

Billy stared owlishly as she hobbled away and then he pouted. Rude. Whatever. Billy walked back out the main doors and stood in the shade under the oak tree. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot as he considered what to say. Boy was he gonna make sure the brat knew the suffering he just endured. He heard the door creak open and he glanced over his shoulder. The kid was hanging his head as the receptionist guided him out the doors then closed and locked them.

Billy huffed and turned around, firmly planting his hands on his hips, "There you are! Do you have any idea what I went thr-" but the words died in his throat when he noticed the kid had fat tears rolling down his face.

The second Spencer locked eyes with him the kids face twisted and he bolted to the pop-star. Spencer collided with Billy's legs wrapping his little arms around them, nearly knocking Billy over, and he buried his face in Billy's shins. The pop-star blinked down at the sobbing kid. He didn't know what to do. Usually, he had people to deal with stuff like this but out here he was alone. He had been prepared to throw one of his diva tantrums because he'd walked all this way, he was tired, and his new boots were dirty. But seeing the kid latched onto him sobbing made something twist in his gut and he didn't like it.

He bent down, gently pried the kid's arms from his legs, and sank to his haunches to look the kid in the eye, "Heey, Spencil. Uh...I-I came to pick you up…?"

This didn't seem to calm the kid down. Instead, Spencer wrapped his arms around Billy's neck and cried into his shoulder. This was new. Billy rarely got hugs apart from an overzealous fan who would be pried off of him by a bodyguard a second later. His own mother didn't really hug him.

He awkwardly patted the kids back, "Uh...You-you wanna tell me what's wrong?"

Spence hiccuped and only spit out broken words for a moment before he said something somewhat audible, "Th-They *hic* call me a weir-*hic*-wierdo!"

Something in Billy's chest grew tight. Billy pried the kid off of him, put his hands on the kids' shoulders and looked him in the eye, "Who did?"

Spencer sniffed and rubbed his eyes for a moment before taking off his backpack and unzipping it. He reached in and pulled out his zombie action figure which was now broken. "I-I showed ZomBoy f-fer show 'n tell 'n-*hic* 'n they laughed 'n call me weird…"

"The other kids did?"

Spencer nodded, "An' a-at recess they broke him." The kid looked mournfully at his toy and Billy felt a lump in his throat. The kid loved that thing.

Billy glared at the school. How dare they! A small part of him, somewhere in the far, far, far back of his mind supposed it was partially his fault for encouraging the kid yesterday. He wished he could have gotten here sooner. If he had he would rip those bullies a new one. Spencer put the toy back in his backpack, zipped it, and put it back on as he still sniffled and fresh tears ran down his cheeks.

Billy clenched his fists. This wouldn't do at all. He had poured his Cobra Confidence into the kid only for it to get destroyed by some brats. It reminded him too much of the fight with his mom. Billy stood and picked Spencer up, balancing him on his hip. Spencer wrapped his little arms around Billy's neck again and buried his face in his shoulder as his little body shuddered with small sobs. Billy made sure the kid wasn't looking as he flipped off the school, turned around, and stormed away from that awful place.

As Billy walked Spencer continued to cry and Billy wasn't sure what to say to make him stop. Seeing the kid so upset wasn't making him feel any better either. He tried asking Spencer if his parents knew about the bullying but the kid said he didn't want to upset them. They had been encouraging him to try talking to the other kids but they weren't into the same stuff he was. Billy shut his trap for a while after that.

The more he thought about it the more he was aware he didn't even know what to say to make someone happy. He had people for this stuff. If he had to do something he usually he just sang and-Wait.

"Lightbulb moment!" He cheered.

Spencer sniffled and looked at him with teary eyes, "Huh?"

"You wanna hear my first number one single?"

Spencer blinked and his little eyebrows scrunched together but he nodded. Billy smiled, took a deep breath, and belted out the lyrics as he bounced the kid along to the beat. After a few lines, Spencer finally smiled. As they continued out of the suburb towards the farms Billy sang more songs for the kid and when he got tired of singing he told the kid stories of his shows. Not all of them were glamorous, but they made Spencer laugh and Billy was more than happy to talk about himself. That and the awful tight feeling in Billy's chest went away.

Billy carried Spencer all the way home. When they got back they went to the play set in the backyard instead of going in. Billy didn't really want to see his mom right now anyway. He continued singing and telling Spencer stories while he pushed the kid on the swing.

"-so then I flung my jacket off but rhinestones and glitter sprayed the audience! Fans were picking it out of their hair for weeks. That's why I now make sure I only have the best seamstresses in the business," Billy concluded finishing telling Spencer one of his stories. The kid laughed until his cheeks were red. He might not have understood everything Billy had told him but it cheered the kid up and that's what mattered-er-at least in the sense that it made the icky feelings in Billys' gut go away.

Billy stopped the swing, "Whelp, I'm all out of stories, cubster. What do you wanna do?"

Spencer thought for a moment, then his face lit up with an idea, but then he frowned.

"What's wrong?"

Spencer got off the swing and retrieved his toy from his backpack, "I wanted to play but he's broken…"

"Well you have other toys, right?"

"I dun wanna play with those," the kid pouted.

Billy frowned and leaned over to get a better look at the toy. One of its arms was missing and the paint had come off in a few spots where it got scratched up. One of the legs was broken but Spencer at least still had the broken off part. But then he noticed areas on the zombie that were intentionally colored red to look like wounds and he got an idea.

He ruffled the kids' hair, "Stay here, short stuff. I'll be right back."

Billy ran off to the house, first going to the garage and borrowing a roll of Hugh's duck tape. Then he snuck inside. His mom was busy talking on the phone so he crept over to her suitcase and found his makeup bag. He pulled out a bottle of crimson nail polish and a bottle of clear coat. He also stuffed a few makeup items in his pocket since he might not get another opportunity to take more later. Billy was surprised she didn't hide the thing yet. He snuck back out and went to Spencer.

"Hey, can I see that for a few minutes?" He asked as he held his hand out.

Spencer frowned and held his precious toy to his chest.

Billy rolled his eyes, "Relax, lil' horror goblin. I'm not gonna break it or anything."

Spencer looked at his toy, then up at Billy for a moment before handing the action figure over. Billy took it, sat on the ground, and Spencer sat across from him. Then he got to work taping the leg back on and painting the red nail polish over the scratches and where the arm was torn off. When he was pleased with his work he lightly blew on it for a few minutes until the nail polish was hard enough for him to apply the clear coat and seal it. Then he gently put it in the playhouse, making sure it wasn't sitting on any parts that had the nail polish.

"There! What do you think? Museum quality work, or what?" he grinned.

Spencer's mouth was agape and his eyes sparkled like stars as he stared at the toy, "He looks more like a zombie then he did before! Cool!"

Billy chuckled, "Well what can I say? The Cobra is a fantastic artist in many ways. But he needs to chill in here for a bit till the paint dries. So we just need to find something else to do. Ok?"

Spencer nodded rapidly before bolting over and hugging him. Billy blinked as he got a strangely warm and fuzzy feeling in his chest. He patted Spencer's back

Spencer shot off him a moment later and looked up at him with big eyes, "Can I show you somefin'?

Billy's face scrunched up, "Uuhh okay?"

Spencer's face burst into a gin and he grabbed Billy's hand. Billy stood up and Spencer tugged him towards the woods. After shuffling through the brush for a minute they came across a deer path. Spencer let go of Billy's hand and started running down the path. Billy jogged after him.

They walked for a while until the path let out onto a dirt road. Woods surrounded them on both sides. The father they went the thicker the woods became. It was getting a little creepy for Billy's liking so he stuck close to Spencer. Eventually, Spencer turned down a hidden path and they came to an old iron gate and fence. Ivy and shrubs were beginning to take it over so he could barely see through to the other side. Billy blinked at it as Spencer ran forward and moved a couple broken iron bars out of the way.

"This way!" He shouted as he slipped through.

"Ah! Wait for me, lil' dude!" Billy ran after the kid and squeezed through.

Billy stumbled and almost ran into a dirty car but stopped himself. No way was he getting his gorgeous outfit and beautiful skin covered in that filth! Besides, if he got hurt he'd make sure the driver would have to deal with his legal team. He stepped back and took a better look. The car wasn't moving and no one was inside. It was also rusty and missing a door and all the windows. The wheels were also gone too so it was sitting on cinder blocks. It looked like it had been there a while.

He looked around and saw more stuff like it. Old vehicles and random junk in huge piles all around him. It was like an area of the woods had been removed, a fence put around the perimeter, and trash was airdropped in. One or two small trees had started to regrow among the junk and one was growing through a car.

"Billy!"

He jolted and looked over to where Spencer was peeking out from behind a large container and waving to him. Then the kid then disappeared behind it.

"H-Hey, wait for me!" Billy ran after him. Spencer led him through the maze of junk and to a wall of containers. A tarp hung down from one near the bottom; Spencer lifted it and crawled through a hole. Billy blinked and followed him through. On the other side was a square area cleared of any junk. Along one wall Spencer was sitting inside a cardboard box that was turned on its side. A couple of decorative pieces of fabric draped the box.

"This is my super-duper secret hiding place!" Spence declared as he held up more monster themed toys, nick-nacks, and notebooks.

Billy blinked, "In a...junkyard?"

"It's not a junkyard, there's a house nearby but no one comes here anymore so only I know about it but now you do too. It can be our secret fort! But we can't tell ANYONE."

Billy's mouth opened and closed like a fish but nothing came out. Something fond, yet sad triggered inside him. He never had a fort as a kid. He remembered talking about making one with his dad but that was before… Billy looked around at the 'fort'. It wasn't like the one he'd dreamt of as a kid and imagining Spencer playing alone inside a cardboard box was kind of sad. The kid was almost cool enough to be a bro and shouldn't be playing in a simple box.

He crossed his arms. "It's not good enough!"

Spencer frowned, "Wha?"

"It needs to be more awesome! Bigger! Flashier! And there's no one better than the Cobra to help you!"

The frown on the kids face dissolved into a huge grin, "Really?!"

"Really!"

Spencer cheered and ran back out of the fort with Billy. The pair hunted around the yard for a while looking for materials and objects they could use. They found some chairs and shelves and dragged them into the fort. Billy found more decorative fabrics and objects to add some pizzazz while Spencer found a small crate to store some of his stuff in. But as evening crept upon them and the sky turned orange Billy decided it was time for them to head home. He didn't feel like poking the bear that was his mother again and making her mad for keeping the kid out late.

Spencer pouted as he held Billy's hand and walked down the dirt road. He glanced at the retreating iron gates behind them, "It's gonna take FOREVER to make the fort…"

Billy thought for a minute, "Since the Cobra is so generous he's gonna come back while you're at school tomorrow and keep working on it so we'll have more time to play. Cool?"

Spence beamed up at him, "Really?"

"Really."

"Yay!" Spencer shouted. He let go of Billy's hand and started running, skipping, and jumping up the road and laughing. Billy smiled as he watched him and that strange fuzzy feeling returned. Ok, so maybe the brat wasn't so bad...

After they got home Spencer finished his homework, they had dinner, and then as they ate dessert Billy grabbed some of Spencer's movies and brought them down to watch one. Jane was busy taking care of the baby upstairs, Billy's mom was still glued to the phone and laptop in the kitchen, and Hugh was in his garage so they didn't have to worry about anyone else. The two sprawled out on the couch and munching on dessert as they watched a movie.

Billy picked out a campy looking movie about a person trying to teach a zombie to perform so they could use it as a kind of roadside attraction to make money. Currently, the person was trying to have it play an ancient looking keyboard piano.

Billy snorted, "Look at that hunk of junk. My Dad had a keyboard like that."

Spencer looked up at him, "How come your mom came but not your dad?"

Damn. He didn't mean to let that slip, "He uh...can't come unless he turns into one of those," he pointed at the zombie on screen.

Spencer cocked his head. Billy grabbed one of the VHS cases with a ghost on the front and pointed at it, "You know...He got himself ghosted like this just minus the haunting part. Get it?"

Spencer's expression got more confused and he shook his head.

"Seriously? Dude, you love zombies and ghosts so you can't tell me you don't get it. I mean you've had to have seen a body before, like in a coffin or something in one of those movies, right?"

Spencer thought for a moment, "Mmm, but they always get up. But my old math teacher, Mrs. Smith, didn't last time I saw her. She was sleeping in a coffin, like a vampire! But she didn't get up. I shouted and everything! She musta been really tired. Or if she was a vampire she prolly was waiting until night time. Mom and Dad didn't like that though so they said I can't go see Mr. Flannigan on Saturday. Can your dad not come because he's a vampire too and can't come out till night time?"

Saturday, right, the funeral; he'd almost forgotten. Billy frowned at the kid and ruffled his hair, "Nevermind, kiddo. You'll understand when you're older." So Spence was still a little too young to understand that real death meant you didn't come back as a ghost or a zombie. Maybe he better leave that explanation to the kids' parents.

"Oh. Is it cuz you don't get along like you don't with your mom?"

"No, we did. At least I think so. He's been away a long time; I haven't seen him since I was like, your age, so I don't remember much. But he was the one who started teaching me to play the guitar."

Spencer gasped with excitement, "Was he good like you?"

Billy smiled, "Not according to my mom. She used to say he wasn't good enough to even do small gigs. But it was more like a hobby for him anyway, his day-job was something lamesauce," he snorted, "Kinda like what your parents do. Mom was the one who saw that I had any real talent and she took me on this talent show and that's how I became the awesome Billy Joe Cobra you know today."

"Maybe you can teach him to play better when you see him again!"

"Yeah…"

The two continued watching the movie in silence until Spencer started drifting to sleep about thirty minutes later. Billy turned off the movie and carried the kid upstairs where he ran into Jane in the hall.

"Oh! Thank you, Billy. Jessica just did not want to go to sleep tonight," She laughed as she took Spencer.

Billy shrugged, "No biggy, Mrs. Wright."

"You can call me Jane, dear, it's ok! Oh, and thank you for picking up Spencer today. His father and I were so thrilled to hear he finally has a friend. We were getting worried that he might be having problems at school. We were afraid his interest in horror was scaring the other kids off. Oop! No pun intended," she giggled.

"Ah, uh, nothing to worry about! He's mega-normal, just needs a little confidence boost. The Cobra's giving him some pointers," he forced a grin. He didn't know if he should mention the bullying if Spencer didn't want him to. Should he?

She smiled, "We're so fortunate he has you to help him."

Ouch...If nothing else came from this trip Billy was pretty sure he at least had a firmer grasp on this 'guilt' feeling.

"Oh! Perhaps you would let me practice styling your hair while you're here! I can make you something 'hip' for your next music video. Have you ever tried dying your hair blonde?"

"Uuuhh, thaaaanks, but I have a stylist."

Jane pouted. Ffffu-there was the guilt feeling again.

"You'll make her jealous with your...awesome styles, is all! Don't wanna hurt her feelings, do we?"

"Oh of course not!," she giggled, "Silly me. Well, I better get Spencer washed up and put him to bed. You sleep well, too, and don't be afraid to ask if you need anything, ok?"

Billy nodded and watched her take the kid into the bathroom before he went back downstairs to collect the VHS tapes. As he came down he spotted Hugh on the floor looking under the coffee table.

"Uh...You ok, Mr. Wright?"

Hugh popped his head up with a bright smile, "I'm perfectly fine, sonny! And call me Hugh! Mr. Wright was my father."

"Heh, ok...Hugh." God, it felt awkward, "So why are you on the floor?"

"I'm looking for my duck tape. I could have sworn I left it in the garage but it's not there."

Billy winced, "Oh, I know where it is…" he trotted out the back door and retrieved the duck tape and the now dry ZomBoy from the playhouse. He ran back in and handed the duck tape to Hugh.

"Sorry, I borrowed it to fix Spencer's toy. The leg broke," he said and pointed at the tape on the zombie's leg.

"Aaaahh, I see! Normally I don't let anyone else touch my babies but if it's for Spencer's sake then it's ok. Thanks for fixing it for him."

"Yeah, no biggy…"

"Hey! Since you seem to be a bit of a do-it-yourselfer too how'd you like to see my projects? Come on, I'll show ya!"

Before Billy could say anything Hugh was dragging him to the garage. Hugh stuck him in front of the robot thing he saw bringing his luggage in yesterday. He watched as Hugh used the duck tape to fix a broken piece. He listened as the man babbled confusing terms like he was trying to teach Billy how to fix something. Then the machine subsequently broke apart again.

"Aww, phooey! Oh well, I'll just have to keep trying. The Hugh-Man is no quitter! My old man always told me to keep doing or die trying. It's something I tell Spencer all the time. I can tell you're that type of go-getter too! It's a family trait," he said and patted Billy on the back.

Billy cocked an eyebrow but slowly nodded. What an odd man. He glanced around the rest of the garage and focused on a barrel looking machine, "What's this do?"

"That's my smoothie maker!"

Billy blinked, "It looks like a small cement mixer."

"That's because it used to be. I refurbished it. Here, I'll show you!" but before Billy could say anything the man was off again and returned with a random assortment of ingredients a moment later. He handed some to Billy proceeded to stuff some in the barrel. He gestured for Billy to do the same and Billy dumped the rest in. Hugh turned on the machine. At first, it spun nice and slow, gradually mixing the stuff together. Then something sparked on the machine and it began to spin out of control. The centrifugal force flung the mush out of the barrel and all over the garage. Hugh turned it off but not before the two were covered in the smoothie.

"Whoops...heh, sorry about that, sonny."

Billy twitched. Well, his outfit was already dirty from his exploits today so he didn't care so much about that.

"No worries," he whipped some of the concoction off his face with his finger and tasted it. It was pretty good and not a bad way to make a smoothie in his opinion. He might need to consider getting his own 'smoothie maker'. Billy went back inside the house and upstairs to bring the tapes up to Spencer's room and take a shower while Hugh was busy cleaning the garage.

He grabbed his music-themed pajamas from his suitcase and went to the bathroom. When he got a good look at himself in the mirror he cringed. He looked awful! Not only from the smoothie but his clothes and arms had dirt all over them. His eyeliner had run and smudged so his gorgeous face looked more like a raccoon. He made a mental note to buy waterproof eyeliner next time. Billy suddenly realized the Wrights didn't mention anything about the makeup.

As Billy stripped off the dirty clothes and got in the shower he couldn't help but think about how weird today was. And just yesterday wasn't he ragging on spending time with these people? Not only did Spencer trust him enough to take him to his secret fort but somehow the kid got him to talk about his dad, however brief. He never even did that with the closest people in his entourage. Now Jane and Hugh were trying to include him in their activities too. It could be because he's famous and they wanted to get his attention but he found that he actually, kind of, might just enjoy it. A little. A tiny, tiny bit.

When he finished and went into the kids' room and to one of his suitcases instead of the bed right away. From a hidden pocket, he pulled out a guitar pick necklace. He had made it out of the first guitar pick he ever used: an electric blue sparkly one his dad used to start teaching him how to play. It wasn't as cool as the one he wore now, a blue one that was made with his face logo on it, but for some reason, he still held onto this one. Then he shook his head, stuffed the necklace back in the pocket and flopped down on the bed, pouting. Why was he having these sentimental thoughts now? They were making him feel weird. He should be focusing on stuff like his next tour and what he was gonna wear.

"G'night, Billy," Spence called from the bed.

Billy jumped a little and looked over at him to see the kid smile. He smiled back, "Night, Spence."

Ok, maybe the Wrights weren't so bad after all.


	5. Revenge

Billy wasn't sure what time he woke up the next morning but there was something he was sure of: his arms and legs were killing him. He had never felt so sore, even after his advanced suede belt kung-fu sessions.

"Baruch, come down for breakfast I'm tired of you sleeping in!" he heard his mother call.

"I can't, I'm dying!" he whined.

"Five. Minutes." came the warning.

Uhg...Didn't she care about his predicament at all? Fine. He didn't want to move but arguing with her was more work. He rolled off of his mattress and onto the floor and tested moving each of his aching limbs. The kid must have been heavier than he thought and he'd walked like a marathon yesterday, or at least it felt like it to him. Billy was starting to regret having promised to work on the fort while Spencer was at school. He was sore and he'd have to go out in _nature_ again, but this time alone.

He glanced over at Spencer's bed to see the kid wasn't there, meaning he was probably already downstairs or at school. Billy summoned what little strength he could to push himself to his feet, grab some clean clothes(ones he wouldn't care if they got dirty), and went to the bathroom to wash up and change. After washing up and getting dressed he noticed the makeup he took from his makeup bag was still on the counter where he left it last night after showering. He cringed, if his mom found it again she'd flip. Billy needed to hide it along with some other stuff from his luggage before she went rummaging through it.

Back in the room, he glanced around and saw the shoebox that had held his, now dirty, boots still on the floor and he grinned. Perfect. He stuffed the makeup inside it, fished out some costume jewelry from his luggage and put them inside there as well. He then proceeded to stuff his more 'out there' costumes to the bottom of his suitcases since they were too big to put in a box. Then Billy grabbed a messenger bag, part of a newspaper boy costume he was toying around with, from one of the suitcases and put the box inside of it. Even if he was a fashion enthusiast it may look weird for him to be carrying a shoebox around.

Billy lumbered downstairs and he went into the kitchen. Jane had left him a plate of pancakes dripping in syrup, butter, and topped with fluffy cream and a glass of orange juice. Feeling ravenous all of a sudden he licked his lips as he sat down and started to eat. He wanted to take his time so his limbs could recuperate and he would avoid the dirt and bugs for as long as possible.

"While we're here," his mother said from across the table, "I also want you to start working on some of the homeschooling you've gotten severely lax on."

_Oh God..._Billy swallowed a mouthful of pancakes, "Why? I'm a superstar, I'm never gonna use that stuff."

"Well, I want you to keep your options open in case it doesn't work out."

Irritation was seeping in already, "I assume you're referring to my recent 'behavior'."

"I wasn't going to say it-"

"But you were thinking it."

"Baruch-" She stopped herself, biting her lip and sighing, "Just, try and do some of it."

Billy rolled his eyes and scarfed down the rest of his breakfast. Shame, he wanted to enjoy it. He put the dishes in the sink before going to the door, "I'll think about it." He slipped out the door before peeking back in, "And my name is Billy!" Before she could retaliate he had slammed the door and was darting into the woods.

Once at the fort, Billy stretched his arms and legs the way his personal trainer taught him to(or tried to when he was paying attention) until the soreness was bearable. He looked over the fort so far: a couple of chairs, shelves, the cardboard box, some fabric...and vines, and leaves. A few bugs crawled around them and he shuddered. No way was he going to allow them to stay here but there was also no way he was touching them with his bare hands. He needed tools and there had to be some somewhere in this dump. Billy went back out into the junkyard and looked around but found nothing useful for getting rid of the leaves. He wandered around the junkyard until he spotted something. Hidden behind some piles of junk and an old van was the cabin Spencer mentioned.

The wood it was made of had started to rot ages ago, the stone foundation it sat on was cracked and weathered, and weeds and ivy were steadily reclaiming the place. It looked as if the roof was made of leaves and moss with how covered it was with the exception of where hole punched through here and there. Part of the roof covering the porch had collapsed and the last pillar holding up the rest didn't look like it would last much longer. Any windows that weren't still intact were covered with wood. Even in the daylight, it made Billy's hair stand on end and the boisterous hum of bugs and birds around him didn't help. But of course, there on the porch was a rake.

Billy glared at it and sucked in a deep breath, "Ok, Billy Joe, you can do this. It's just a dumb old building, there's nothing to be scared of."

He repeated the sentence over and over again in his head as he approached the cabin, ignoring his quaking legs. When his foot touched the first step a chill ran up his body and he froze. Utterly paralyzed he stared up at the rest of the remaining two stairs leading to the porch and front door which now seemed much further away as if his vision was starting to tunnel. Billy's heart was pounding against his ribs and in his ears as the shadows around the cabin seemed to shift with his unease. He swallowed and lept up to the porch, grabbing the rake and then jumping down the three steps to the ground before sprinting back to the junkyard. He stopped himself next to an old van and panted as he glanced over his shoulder. He could have sworn he felt someone looking at him and not in the adoring way his fans did.

He shook his head. No way, there's no one around for miles except for the Wrights' house and there's no such thing as ghosts or monsters. He refused to believe in such things. Billy straightened himself and strutted back to the fort. He spent the next few hours raking away the leaves and weeds and dragging in wooden pallets and boards to act as walls or flooring and other objects. He gathered more colorful fabrics and random ornaments to decorate the place with. He also found a mirror and spent a little too much time preening. Once the fort was mostly set up he took out the shoebox from his bag and plopped it down on a small end table he'd found.

Soon he started to feel his soreness creep back in he decided a cat nap was in order and he laid out on one of the large wooden boards and closed his eyes. If he forgot about the dirt, the nasty bugs and the critters crawling around it was almost peaceful. Even the air out here smelled different from what he was used to. Somehow it smelt cleaner. A light breeze wafted over him and the chirping of crickets seemed to soften. The sun cast a pleasant warmth through the leaves overhead and he found his mind drifting. He remembered another time where he felt the same kind of warmth and soft breeze. But it was vague like it was far away and he thought he remembered a guitar playing. Billy lost track of how long he was dozing.

Something tapped his shoulder. Billy yawned and blinked the bleariness from his eyes. He saw a dark figure standing over him and he didn't react for a moment as his vision cleared. It was still dark against the sunlight but two bulging red eyes stared down at him. Billy screamed and darted behind the shelving unit. He hid there in a ball trembling until he heard familiar laughter. Billy glared around the shelf to the small figure doubled over in the middle of the fort. The face was grotesque like a zombie but in a childish way and the body was weird. It was too small for the size of the head, or rather, the handmade mask.

Spencer tilted the mask up to show his cheery red giggling face, "I got you!"

"Pfft! As if! That's not even that scary."

"Then why did you scream?"

"I was-I was just startled! I was snoozing, after all!"

Spencer giggled, "You were scared."

_Uhg...brat._ Billy pointed at the mask, "What is that anyway?"

"A zombie!" Spencer cheered, "It's suuuuper scary, right?"

Billy glared at the kid and then smirked, "Well, you wanna know what's scarier than a zombie?"

Spencer blinked and tilted his head, "What?"

"The most terrifying monster of all," he growled as he leaned over the kid and Spence shrank back, "The terrifying. Awe-inspiring. Horrible. Disgusting. TICKLE MONSTER!" He grabbed the kid and proceeded to tickle his sides.

Spencer laughed and tried to get away but Billy wouldn't let him get far. He tickled the kid for a few moments and gave him a noogie before Spencer slithered away. Billy was doubled over in laughter as the kid pouted and tried to fix his hair. Billy could vaguely remember his dad doing that when he was a kid and it never failed to tick him off. He was glad to see it still worked.

"Toolshed!" Spencer said half-heartedly.

"Brat!" Billy chuckled before looking at the mask. It looked like it was made from bits of green and red colored paper and cardboard taped together with two red lenses for eyes.

"Your dad make that for you?"

Spencer shook his head, "I did."

"You?" Billy cocked an eyebrow. Not too shabby for a kid.

Spencer nodded as he took off his backpack and put the mask on one of the shelves while Billy stood up and stretched. Spencer noticed the shoebox and pointed to it, "What's that?"

Billy glanced at it, "Oh, I needed somewhere safe to stash some of my stuff so my mom doesn't take it," he brought the shoebox over to the kid and opened it to show him the stuff inside, "She'd never think to look in here so let's keep it our little secret."

Spencer nodded, "Can I put some of my stuff in there too so I don't have to keep hiding stuff in the playhouse?"

"Go for it, tater-tot. It can be our secret stash."

The kid grinned and took out some of his monsters themed toys and nicknacks from his backpack and stuffed them in the box.

Bill looked around the fort, "Well, it's not perfect but this place is done enough for today. What do you wanna do?"

Spencer thought for a moment before he grinned, "Wanna make some more monster masks with me?"

Billy wasn't really into the whole monster thing and he wasn't that creative, but the kids' enthusiasm was infectious and there wasn't much else to do, "Sure."

Billy ruffled the kids' hair to annoy him and darted out of the fort as Spencer chased after him.

Billy and Spencer spent the better part of an hour making monster masks out of random objects around the property. They made makeshift werewolf masks, troll masks, zombie masks, alien masks, (although Billy's tended to have more sparkle and flare than Spencers) and played for a while. But Billy noticed a scuff on the kids' knee and when he asked if he got it while they were rough housing here Spencer just shook his head and frowned. Billy could think of only one other reason he'd get a scrape like that.

"The kids at school were bullying you again?"

Spencer didn't say anything but lowered his head so the alien lampshade mask fell over his face, obscuring his features. All the confirmation Billy needed.

Billy sighed, "Come on, kid. What happened to having some confidence like we talked about?"

"I tried!" Spencer argued, "But they just push me around."

Billy frowned and thought for a moment. Even if Spencer stood up for himself the kids would still think he's weird because of his interests, they're still just kids after all. Billy glanced over at a skull-like mask Spencer made and he suddenly perked up. That's right, they're all just kids.

"Lightbulb moment! I'm gonna pick you up from school tomorrow, but this time I won't be late. We're gonna play a little game with them," Billy said and let out a mischievous chuckle.

Spencer stared at him with confusion as Billy told him his idea. Spencer eagerly agreed and helped formulate a plan. After gathering some supplies, and the shoebox the two went back to the house for the evening. As they were leaving Billy thought he heard something coming from the cabin but wrote it off as a raccoon or other gross critter.

As Billy and Spencer rounded the house to the garage something bright flashed in their eyes. Billy cried out as he tried to blink away the spots dancing across his vision. He normally was accustom to camera flashes but he'd been away from the adoring public for a few days and he was having fame withdrawal. When the spots cleared he saw Hugh standing in front of them holding something.

"Check it out, kids!" the man shouted.

Billy and Spencer blinked at the square-ish object. Billy could tell it was a camera but not one he'd ever seen. It had a lense and some buttons like a normal camera but there was also a long slot along the bottom and a flash that was bigger than it needed to be in his opinion. It made some noises and a piece of paper slipped out of the slot. Billy caught it as it floated towards the ground and looked at it. It was a picture of him and Spencer as they were walking in.

"I found my old Polaroid camera and I fixed her up in my garage! Now we can take pictures while you're here and keep these memories forever," Hugh grinned.

Billy opened his mouth to tell the man his modeling rates but then they heard the baby crying from inside.

"Oh, dear. Better go see what the situation is," Hugh grabbed the picture and darted inside before Billy could say anything. Billy just sighed and followed with Spencer.

In the kitchen, Jane was in the process of popping a bottle into the baby's mouth to silence the small child.

Hugh held up the camera for her to see, "Look what I whipped up in the garage, honey!"

Jane blinked at him with tired eyes and looked at the picture she handed him. She smiled, "That's great, dear."

Billy winced at the bags under her eyes. It hadn't occurred to him before that she would be tired between working, caring for the baby and Spencer, and taking care of other family stuff. He glanced over at his mom but she was in the living room yet again, tapping away at her laptop. He rolled his eyes. Of course, she was oblivious.

"Hey, so, uhhhh…" he scratched at the back of his head. He was bad at this kind of thing, "I was thinking that tomorrow I'd pick up Spence from school, if that's cool with you bros...and, um, I can help get him ready tomorrow morning, too."

The two stared at him with owl-like eyes and he could feel his mother's stare on his back.

Spencer jumped up and down, "Can he, can he?!"

Jane broke into a smile, "Of course!"

Billy forced a grin. He wasn't too peaked at the idea of getting up early to help the kid but they needed to get ready to execute their plan and rehearse. Jane and Hughs' grateful smiles made something unfamiliar warm and fuzzy tickle his insides and he suppressed the urge to shiver to get rid of it. Jane looked down at the photo again then up at him as her face lit up.

"Oh, since we have a picture of you and Spencer let's get one with the three of you!" she beamed.

Billy froze, "Uh-Uh, no-that-" but she handed Jessica over to him, making sure his arms were holding her the right way. Billy felt as tense as he did when he stepped on that cabin porch as he gawked at the baby, finding it difficult to smile. She blinked up at him and he felt Spencer shuffle over next to him. Jessica smiled up at him and Billy relaxed just enough to crack a small grin. Huh...maybe the baby wasn't so-

The camera flashed and when it did the baby jolted and punched upwards on reflex, smacking Billy in the eye. He staggered back, he felt the baby taken out of his hands, and his hands flew up to his watering eye. Never-mind, the kid was terrible.

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry, she's not normally like this," Jane stammered.

_I find that hard to believe_, Billy thought. Between that wicked punch and the way she destroys her toys, the kid was bound to be a fighter when she got older.

"You take care of her, Hugh, I'll take care of the boys," Jane said as she handed the baby to Hugh and led the other two upstairs.

Thankfully, there was no serious damage and Billy might only have a light bruise for a few days. Not that he was happy but it wasn't the first time he'd been given a black eye(but usually it was by one of his ex's or in a brawl at a party). At least he didn't have to worry about paparazzi for a while. He'd be covering it up with makeup tomorrow anyway. Jane gave him a frozen bag of peas to hold over his eyes to reduce any swelling.

After dinner, the boys went to Spencer's room to hang out. Hugh was having fun with his toy as he snapped pictures of the boys, some of Spencer and Billy playing with Spencer's toys, and some of Billy strumming on an electric guitar or the keytar he brought along. When the adults weren't around they were going over tomorrow's plan and making a costume.

The next morning a groggy Billy got Spencer up and fumbled his way along to get the kid cleaned up and dressed. All the while they went over their plan again and Jane got a little extra sleep as Hugh took his turn caring for the baby and making breakfast. Once the Wrights were off Billy told his mom he'd go work on schoolwork while he dragged himself back upstairs to nap until his cue. In the afternoon he finally forced himself out of bed, stuffing the costume into his bag and putting his makeup on. Then he slipped downstairs and held the bag up to shield his face.

"Gonna go get Spencer, bye!" he shouted to his mom as he darted out of the house before she could see.

Billy walked all the way to the school, this time only taking a handful of breaks. When he got there he hid in some bushes in the woods behind the school like he told Spence he would. There he dawned his costume, set up his prop, and waited. All he had to do was keep telling himself that monsters and ghosts weren't real and it made the situation not so scary. The school bell rang. The game was on.

Kids poured out of the school screaming and shouting to their awaiting parents the way he'd seen flocks of fans rush him back home. Only this looked much less fun. He kept his eyes trained on the crowds of children until he saw Spencer. The kid crept around to the back of the school and towards the woods where Billy was hiding. Soon a group of kids followed and Billy squinted through the bushes to get a better look at them. They were led by a tall round kid with a freckled mean looking face and a mop of curly, greasy, strawberry blonde hair. Billy decided to call him Pudge. The other two were shorter and lanky with short dark hair, narrow eyes, and buck teeth, siblings probably. He'd call them Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

Pudge approached Spencer and lightly shoved his shoulder, causing Spence to stumble forward and spin around with a glare.

"Well, well, well, what's the little weirdo doin' creepin' around back here, eh? As if you weren't enough of a freak," Pudge laughed.

"Off on one of your little monster hunts, again?" Tweedledee joined.

"Maybe if he finds BigFoot he'd actually have a friend for once," Tweedledum laughed.

Billy balled his fists and resisted the urge to jump his cue.

Spencer straightened himself and puffed his chest as Billy told him to do, "I'm not looking for BigFoot, I'm looking for Kinder-Snatch!"

The three stooges burst out laughing.

"What the heck is a 'Kinder-Snatch'?" Tweedledee wheezed.

Spencer stamped his foot, "He's a monster who comes after mean kindergarteners. He carries a scythe and I'm gonna tell him you're all a bunch of bullies if you don't stop picking on me!"

The three brats doubled over in laughter, struggling to catch their breath.

Pudge whipped his eyes, "What kind of stupid baby believes stuff like that? Man, you're such a weirdo!"

"I am not a weirdo, I'm mega-normal and the Kinder-Snatch is gonna get you," Spencer said.

On cue, Billy let out a low growl, shook the bushes and scraped his makeshift sickle against a piece of metal. It let out an eerie screech and the three bullies stopped laughing.

"What was that?" Tweedledee asked.

Spencer smirked, "The Kinder-Snatch."

"Pfft! Yeah right. It's probably just Spencer Wrong trying to scare us. As if, you little freak," Pudge said attempting to sound smug but Billy heard the tremble in his voice. Excellent.

Billy shot up out of the shadows, brandishing the sickle over his head with a roar. He towered over them with his taller stature and the dark tattered robes and hood he wore giving the illusion that he was even taller. He wore a necklace and cords containing objects that were decorated to look like the bones of his victims. Billy had painted his face to look like a skull and wore a pair of Spencer's zombie-eyed toy glasses.

The three lame-kateers screamed and fell back. Billy brought the sickle down and buried the 'blade' into the ground between Pudge's legs. The kid proceeded to let out a higher pitched scream as he wet himself, then he scrambled to his feet with his cohorts and they started to run. Billy then grabbed Spencer and dragged him into the bushes as Spence let out a convincing scream. The three brats screamed more and ran faster. The pair watched the bullies through holes in the bushes until the kids were out of sight. Then they burst out laughing.

"That was amazing!" Spencer cheered as he skipped down the road towards the house, "I can't believe Nick wet his pants!"

Billy chuckled as he finished stuffing the costume into the bag, "Epic indeed, my tiny dude."

"That was a cool idea, Billy."

"Well, duh! All the Cobra's plans are awesome. But I only thought of the idea to scare them. You're the one who came up with 'Kinder-Snatch'. Ya know, I saw your drawings and stuff under your bed, you're good at making up stuff like this. We gotta figure out something awesomesauce that you can do with it for when you're older."

Spencer's eyes lit up, "You think my stuff was good?"

"Yeah, of course."

Spencer's face nearly split from the grin his compliment produced and the kid giggled and jumped around. It occurred to Billy that he was probably the person besides Spencer's parents to compliment his horror ideas. That was kind of sad.

"Billy?"

Billy blinked and looked down at him, "Yeah?"

"Thanks for helping me with the bullies today."

He ruffled Spencers' hair, "No probs, lil' bro."

Spencer ducked away from his hand and blinked up at him, "Bro?"

"Yeah, you're cool enough now to be a bro. It's a high honor in the Billy Joe Cobra entourage. Just don't let it go to your head, you're still a little brat," Billy teased.

Spencer's face lit up and then he cheered as he started running back to the house.

"Hey! Let's go to the fort first, I need to put this stuff away and get my makeup off before my mom sees me and kills me!" Billy called as he chased after the kid.


	6. Reflections

Billy swiped the makeup wipe over his face again, removing the black and white paint. He was thankful he had the foresight to bring the wipes with him. One by one he dumped the used up ones in a plastic bag for trash until he was satisfied that every last inch of his face was free of makeup. He didn't want to have to endure another fight with his mom. Once he was finished he winked at the handsome devil in the mirror.

"All clean and looking like my beautiful self again," he cooed and glanced over at the costume sitting in the corner, "Alright, enough horror for a while. How about we try something with a little more bromazing action to showcase my rad skills. Whaddaya think, Spence?"

He turned expecting to see the kid playing with his toys like usual but Spencer was nowhere to be seen in the fort. Billy blinked, "Spence?"

He waited but received no response. Billy got up and walked outside of the fort, "Kid, you better not be trying to scare me again or I swear you're gonna get the biggest noogie of your life!"

Nothing.

Billy walked around a little and his eyes caught movement behind a tarp which was draped over the frame of an old car. He smirked, crept up to it and grabbed a corner of the tarp. Then with a loud 'BOO' he flung it up. He was greeted by the twitching nose and erect ears of a small furry creature. Its little beady eyes blinked at him. Billy screamed and it scampered away.

"Nasty little- Ok, ok, calm down, Billy Joe, it was just a rabbit," he sucked in a breath, "Come on out, squirt! We got stuff to do!"

Nada.

Billy huffed and started to stomp around the junkyard, looking for Spencer in and among the piles of stuff, "Guess I'll have to play Zombies Versus Aliens by myself!"

Zip.

"Or I was thinking about making you a cool pirate costume to match mine but it looks like Captain Cobra doesn't need a first mate after all!"

Zilch.

Billy swallowed, "Ok, Spencer, this isn't funny anymore. Come out."

Zero.

An uncomfortable feeling coiled in his chest and he walked a little faster as he surveyed the junkyard, "Alright, you win the scaring game, happy?! Or whatever the heck we're playing…"

Nope.

"Ollie Ollie Oxen Free!"

Only crickets and birds answered him. Shit. If he lost the kid their parents would flip and that coiling inside him was spreading. Whatever this feeling was it was starting to make his limbs tremble and causing his search efforts to become more frantic. He didn't like it. Billy wove in and around the piles of junk, looking high and low until he was satisfied Spencer wasn't in the yard. The kid could have gone home(and if he did without telling Billy then he was in for a world of hurt) but there was one other place he could be and the thought of it filled Billy with dread.

Billy sucked in a deep breath and shouted as loud as his voice would allow, "SPENCER!"

"Billy!" came a faint reply.

Bingo. Being a singer was paying off in more ways than one. Except the reply came from the place Billy didn't want to go so it didn't make him feel better. He took off running in the direction it came from until the cabin was in view and so was Spencer. The kid was standing about thirty yards away from the cabin staring at it and waving.

Billy jogged over to him, panting, "Spence! Don't go running off like that without telling me, ok? Not cool, lil' brosephs…"

"Sorry," Spencer said and dropped his hand but didn't take his sight off the cabin.

Billy took a moment to catch his breath before he followed Spencer's line of sight, "What are you doing over here?"

Spencer jolted as if he were brought out of a daze, "I was looking for more stuff to make masks with but I saw someone inside and he waved so I waved back."

Billy felt a chill run up his spine again and he stood straighter. Could someone be in there? He hadn't checked before but the place gave him creepy vibes, "I thought you said no one else came around here."

"No one does."

Billy glanced at him and then the cabin. The first thing that came to mind was that it was a homeless person squatting in the cabin but Billy's mind started to derail after that. What if it was a freaky stalker or a crazy ax murder? Or worse, what if his paparazzi's found out where he was and they were taking pictures of him playing in a JUNKYARD with a KID. His reputation would be ruined. Billy blinked and shook his head, no there was no way it was that. Ax murder was definitely worse. He really needed to rethink his priorities. Besides, his PR team was better than that, there was no way the paparazzi would find him out here. Billy went to reach for the kids' hand to go back to the fort but Spencer bolted forward.

"Let's go check it out!" the kid shouted as he bounded up the steps, opened the door, and slipped in.

"What?! No, Spencer what if it isn't safe?!" Billy ran after him.

He jumped up the steps and threw open the door to the cabin only to be met with a cobweb to the face. He flailed and spit, "Ew, ew, ew, disgusting!"

Then once again he tripped on something and fell. For a while he just laid there, damning his luck and whatever cruel force of nature wanted to see him eating dirt so often. When something tapped his shoulder and he glanced over to see Spencer hovering near him with a worried expression.

"You ok?" Spencer asked in a soft voice.

Billy sat up and wiped the last of the cobweb from his face and hair, "No!... But I'm not hurt if that's what you mean..."

Billy's eyes adjusted to the darkness and he looked around. The inside of the cabin wasn't as bad as he thought. There was still a lot of stuff piled as high as the ceiling but it was a little more organized. The objects kept here appeared to have been taken care of better, once upon a time, and they were of higher value than whatever junk was outside. The room they entered contained a lot of antique furniture and electronics which were coated in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. Billy chose not to think about how many spiders inhabited the building.

Billy stood up and looked around, "Wow...whoever lived here had a serious hoarding issue, dude."

"Shh! He'll hear you!" Spencer hissed.

"Oh right! Hey, If anyone's here you better-uh...come...out? Spying on people and waving to little kids is creepy, you know..!" Billy tried to sound intimidating but even he heard the waver in his own voice. Nothing responded. He pulled Spencer close so the kid was behind him.

Billy swallowed and took a few steps forward when a stack of aluminum kitchenware came tumbling down in a symphony of clangs. Billy screamed latched onto Spencer. But instead of an ax murdered hovering over them about to kill them, a chubby raccoon peered at them from the table where the objects had been perched before. It sniffed in their direction before it leaped off the table and waddled out the door.

"Ick! Nasty creatures, what is it with all these animals out here today?!" Billy shouted after it.

Spencer gave him a quizzical look.

Billy cleared his throat, "See, Spence? It was just a raccoon. Can't see what you got so scared of."

Spencer expression flattened and he raised a judgmental eyebrow at him.

Billy ignored it and stood up, "Hey, maybe there's some stuff in here we can use for the fort! Let's check it out."

"Hmm...I dunno…"

"Come on, what's the worse that can happen? Besides finding spiders or more nasty animals, that is…"

Spencer looked around for a moment and shrugged. They wove through the room and sifted through the piles of stuff. For the most part, Billy wasn't too impressed. Anything of value or practical use was deteriorating or clearly broken by this point. The furniture, tableware items, and decorations weren't even good enough to be considered 'vintage', or at least according to his tastes. Some stuff reminded him of things his parents owned before Billy became rich and the stuff gave him goosebumps. This place was seeming less and less interesting. That was until he spotted an old steam trunk. Billy opened it and grinned at the array of clothing inside.

"Whoooaaa, check out the threads!" he pulled out a long blue coat which was covered in brightly colored planets and stars. He spun it around and slid his arms into it, "Whaddya think?"

Spencer giggled at him, "You look like a wizard."

"A totally bro-dacious wizard!"

Spencer laughed and looked around. His gave focused on several sets of glasses, real and costume ones, sitting on a nearby table. The kid grabbed the largest pair which were two huge lenses half the size of his face and he put them on. They made his eyes look comically huge and Billy bust out laughing.

Then Billy plucked a pair of glasses with star-shaped lenses from the table and put them on, "There. I bet I can pull off this look better than Elton John, am I right?"

Spencer blinked and tilted his head, "Who?"

"We really need to update your musical library, kid. Starting with me of course," he took off the glasses and coat and put them back with a sigh, "Can't bring this stuff back. If I did and Mom finds it all I'll hear is: 'Barach Cohen, I told you to stop that nonsense!'" he mocked in a shrill voice.

Spencer giggled and put his glasses back too. Billy wandered over to some large wardrobes and cabinets in the corner in hopes of finding better-looking clothes. Along the way, he passed a whole section dedicated to taxidermy. Ew. He couldn't fathom why anyone would want to willingly bring nature into their home. Billy opened one of the cabinets only for a hundred glassy eyes to stare back at him. He yelped and jumped back in anticipation of a hundred critters swarming him. When they didn't he realized that the eyes belonged to dozens of porcelain dolls lining the shelves.

"Yikes! Creepsville," he slammed it shut and tried a wardrobe. But it was filled with mannequins. He promptly shut that one and shoved a heavy trunk in front of it. Nope, nope, nope.

He grabbed Spencer's hand and guided the kid back to the less scary part of the cabin. They made their way back to the center of the main room and slowly went towards the back of the cabin. Billy could see a doorway leading into another room and multi-colored lights spilled out from it. They approached with caution and entered.

The back room was much less cluttered. Hardly anything was on the floor as shelves and tables lined the walls, each one fully stocked with items. Mostly glass or ceramic nick-nacks set up in little displays. But towards the center back of the room was the masterpiece. A glass shelving unit where section held a rainbow of glass figurines. Each section was dedicated to a different subject: animals, bugs, people, objects, vehicles, etc. They were all arranged with obscene care like each section was its own world. The light spilling in from the windows in the room bounced off the glass ornaments and created rainbows all over the walls, floor, and ceiling. Billy and Spencer stared in awe at all the little multi-colored glass figures for a long time. The fact that this was the only display not covered in dust and cobwebs struck Billy as odd but he chose not to dwell on it.

Billy reached out towards the display-And something loud crashed behind him. The pair spun around and for a few moments, both boys were still as the glass figures. They stared at the open door anticipating someone or something bursting through. Billy held onto Spencer's hand in case they needed to make a run for it. A squeak came from the other room and a rat scurried across the floor towards the main entrance. Billy let out a breath. Nature was out to kill him today. He straightened himself and looked around the room. Something more interesting caught his eye.

"Duder, Spence, check this out!" he ran over to an end table in the corner which was next to a small cot. On the table was an old red camcorder. Billy picked it up and knelt down to show it to Spencer, "Know what this is?"

Spencer stared at it for a moment before shaking his head.

Billy grinned and bit his lip, "Know those horror movies you love so much? How do you think they're made into movies?"

Spencer shrugged.

"People use devices like this, well more sophisticated ones, to record stuff actors do and put them on the screen. We can totally act out some of our ideas and record them to make our own movies. Like the stuff you've been scribbling and hiding under your bed."

Spencer's face lit up like stars, "Yeah!"

"Awesomeness, Steven Bro-berg! Off to our stage!" Billy started out of the cabin but stopped at the entrance when he noticed Spencer wasn't following. He could hear the kid talking in the back room but couldn't make out what he was saying, "Yo! Dude, I'm out here! Stop talking to yourself and let's go!"

"Coming!" came his little shout before a few moments, and mumbles, later he came running over.

Billy took Spencer out of the cabin and the two ran back to the fort. Billy set up a few pieces of wood and a pallet to act as a stage for Spencer's toys or for the two to act out stuff in costumes. They couldn't get the camera to work but it didn't matter to them; the boys still pretended like they were recording. Billy insisted upon his action adventures movie first of course. After that Billy sang and performed as if he were in a music video(that he actually cared about and didn't walk off set for). Then they played Zombies Vs. Aliens until they grew hungry. Dinner would be ready soon so they boys cleaned up the set and stored their toys and props in a crate hidden under the stage. As Billy closed it he realized Spencer had wandered off with the camcorder.

Oh no, not again, "Spencer!"

The kid came running back into the fort a moment later, "Here I am!"

"Geeze, Bro-dini, what did I say earlier?"

Spencer frowned, "Sorry…"

Then Billy noticed Spencer didn't have the camcorder, "Hey, where's the camera?"

"The old man said it's ok if we play with the camera as long as we give it back at night. So I put it back."

Billy balked, "Uh...what old man? Thought we just found a raccoon and a rat in there?"

"The ghost!"

Ah, probably something from one of Spencer's stories or his imagination again. They had been playing pretend stuff for a while. Billy grabbed his messenger bag and the pair left the fort and started back to the house.

Billy smirked and decided to humor him, "A ghost, huh? So he's cool with us using his stuff?"

Spencer nodded, "Long as we don't take anything. But he doesn't care as much about the stuff outside, just the stuff inside."

"Aaaahhhh, I see. So why was this 'ghost' ok with us touching his camera?"

"Mmm, he said it's coz he saw me playing here by myself before and it made him sad. But now that I have a friend to play with he doesn't mind so much."

Billy couldn't hold back his smile. The kid had a cute imagination, "Is that so? Well if it makes him happy then we'll have to come back tomorrow and play a lot more."

Spencer grinned, "Promise?!"

"Promise," Billy laughed and ruffled the kids' hair before they raced each other back to the house.

Later at the Wrights' house, Billy huffed at his mom and his 'homework'. Somehow she discovered that he hadn't actually done his homeschooling stuff earlier so now he was paying the price. She demanded he sits downstairs and finishes it under her supervision but he was distracted and she wasn't even looking up from her laptop. Billy glanced once again into the kitchen.

Hugh was helping Spencer complete his homework. The sight sent a painful twang of nostalgia through Billy. He wondered if his dad had ever helped him with his work when he was a kid and still in school. But all Billy could recall were his brief guitar lessons with the man. How much more could he have learned from him if he was still around? Would he even be as close to him as Spencer was to his parents? Or would their relationship have degraded as it had with his mother?

At that thought, his gaze shifted to Jane who was holding Jessica. She was rocking the child to sleep and singing a soft lullaby. Billy briefly wondered if his mom ever sang lullabies to him when he was that small. Or would she have been too distracted back then too? Billy watched the Wrights and wondered if this was how normal families were. If so why didn't he have that? He had everything else anyone could possibly want.

The phone rang and broke Billy out of his thoughts. He shook his head. Why was he thinking about this kind of stuff all of a sudden? He was a super famous pop star with thousands of adoring fans, what did he care? But they're not family, something in the back of his head chimed in. He smacked himself in the side of the head, earning him a strange glance from his mother.

Jane picked up the phone and chatted quietly with someone on the other end. After a minute or two, she called her husband over. They spoke in hushed tones for a bit before Jane hung up the receiver with a frown.

"What are we going to do?" She asked Hugh.

"Hmmm, I don't know."

Billy couldn't help himself, he was curious, "Everything ok?"

"It seems Mrs. McGanzer is ill and can't watch Spencer this Saturday while we're at the funeral," Hugh said with dismay.

Jane bit her lower lip, "Well we're already taking Jessica, but Spencer...I suppose...maybe we could-"

Billy piped up, "I can watch him!"

All of the adults looked at him with an array of expressions while Spencer's face lit up. Billy was initially confident it would work since Jane and Hugh were likely hesitant to bring Spencer along since the 'vampire' incident. But the way Billy's mother made a face at him made him shrunk a little. She was about to say something when Jane intervened.

"Are you sure? Don't you want to go to the funeral?"

No, not really. Dead things freaked him out and seeing people in coffins gave him flashbacks he'd rather forget. But one look at his mom told him he better think about his words, "Uh...well, yeah, he was...family after all. But someone needs to look after Spence and it's more important for you guys to go. You can give them my blessing," He added his glorious photoshoot smile.

"But Mrs. McGanzer looked after me since I was a kid! I'm not so sure…" Hugh pouted.

"It's only for a few hours, Hugh. I'm sure the boys will be ok. Besides, Spencer's been telling us all about how kind you've been to play with him and look after him. He tells us about the fun costumes you make and how you two get all dressed up and act out his little stories," Jane said before she surprised Billy with a hug, "Thank you, dear."

Billy forced a smile and patted her awkwardly on the back. He wasn't quite used to hugs yet and he felt his mother's hard boring into the back of his head. Of all the things Jane had to blurt out in front of her...

"Well, I guess so," Hugh relented, "But don't go touching my tools, boys."

Both Spencer and Billy nodded. Based on the restrained look on his mother's face Billy knew she'd lay into him later. He was going to put that off for as long as possible.

After dinner, the boys immediately went upstairs to 'play' but Billy mainly wanted to avoid his mom. Billy took out his prized guitar and started to strum on it as Spencer scribbled little drawings on some paper. Vacation or not Billy had a lot of upcoming shows and a recording session soon. He needed to create new material and this trip at least sparked some inspiration. He could sing about how he braved the wilds and the awesome adventures he created and acted out with Spencer(but mostly himself). He toyed around with different rhythms, melodies, and experimented with giving them lyrics. After a bit, Billy noticed Spencer had stopped scribbling and was watching him.

When Billy caught his eye Spencer asked, "Can I try?"

Billy stopped playing and stared at him. He still wasn't too keen on the idea of anyone but him touching his guitar and Spencer was still just a kid, what if he broke something? He glanced at the guitar and then at Spencer's hopeful expression.

"Uhh...this might be a little advanced for you, kiddo. Maybe we should start with the keytar or something."

Spencer shook his head and resumed sketching, "Nevermind."

Billy could tell the kid was trying to hide his disappointment. Billy frowned and that guilt feeling returned. God, he hated that feeling and this kid was good at making him feel it. He looked down at the expensive guitar and remembered the times his dad started teaching him to play. Billy had held onto the blue guitar pick as his dad held down the proper part of the string since Billy's arms had been too small. With each pluck, his dad told him which cord he was playing. He hadn't learned many before his dad passed away. Billy wasn't sure he wanted to share that kind of memory with someone else, even if Spencer was a bro. He put the guitar away and opted to play a game with Spencer until it was time for the kid to go to bed. Once he thought Spencer was sound asleep Billy took the guitar back out, slipped onto the porch roof, leaving the toy building block to hold the window slightly open, and played the guitar softly on the roof. It was an old melody his dad used to play for him.


	7. It's Getting Cloudy

Friday morning rolled in with a dark, cloudy sky that Billy felt he could relate to. He had gone to bed late, didn't sleep well, and when he was asleep he dreamt of times long past. So for once, he was up in time to see Spencer off to school, if only because he happened to be awake at the same time. His ulterior motive was putting off the inevitable talk with his mother for as long as possible. Jane had taken the day off to watch after Jessica since Mrs. McGanzer was sick but he couldn't stick to her side all day. So when Hugh left for work and to drop Spencer off at school Billy left too.

With hours to kill before the Wrights got back, spending all day in the junkyard surrounded by nature didn't sound appealing. So Billy decided to kill some time by checking out the town. He shouldered his bag, which still contained the shoebox, snuck out once the Wrights' car drove off, and started the long walk into town.

With a fresher perspective, Billy thought the tiny town didn't look quite as bad as it did before. Almost. The sidewalks and roads were cracked and broken from years of neglect. The park, if you could call it that, looked like nothing more than a small grassy patch of land with a rusted jungle gym, rotting benches, and a leaf covered picnic table. On the outskirts of the town ran a series of railroad tracks and every so often Billy could hear their horns blaring in the distance. Even though he was in the supposedly busiest part of town he still got whiffs of corn, grain, cattle, and manure from nearby farms. Disgusting.

Billy longed for the city where every street was lined with lavish stores, restaurants, theaters, and teeming with people. This town only had one main street where there were any public places and the lack of people reminded him of a ghost town. He paced the main street and looked at the few buildings and shops. There was only one place to eat, some mom and pop diner with attached ice cream parlor. One run down cinema that looked like it was on the verge of closing. A barber shop that Billy likely wouldn't trust a single person inside to touch his luscious locks. A 'General Store', whatever that was. An old antique furniture store, and something called a 'library' that Billy wasn't even remotely interested in. Anything of actual interest or use was several miles out into the next town but to get there Billy would need a car. He decided to investigate this 'general store'.

Billy walked in expecting to be underwhelmed as he assumed everything in this small town was underwhelming. But to his surprise, this store had a wide variety of items. Stores back in the city sure as heck didn't look like this. Every store he knew in the city usually specialized in one type of thing. Granted the stuff if the city was likely of better quality and design but this was at least interesting. He walked up and down the isles gawking at all the different items. Shelves lined the walls full of toys, medicines, herbs, snacks, nicknacks, ornaments, clothes printed with the theme of this small town(which of course involved cows), hand-carved wooden utensils, etc. But the best thing was the wooden barrels filled to the brim with snacks and candy. Billy was happy he took some cash along for this trip since his mom still handled all his credit cards and most of his finances.

"Do you need help finding anything?" croaked a hoarse voice.

Billy's looked to the front desk where the voice came from. A little old wrinkled lady with wiry white hair tied in a bun sat on a small stool behind the register. She had huge bifocal glasses on but based on the way she wasn't exactly looking at him, and obviously wasn't freaking out over the great Billy Joe Cobra gracing this establishment with his glorious presence, she probably was blind as a bat even with them.

"I dunno, this place has so much stuff it's awesome! You got any music?"

She pointed a shaking spidery hand to the corner. On a table sat a few wooden instruments like a pan pipe and a banjo. Not exactly the CDs or records he'd been hoping for.

"Uuhh, heh, ok. What about some rad-tastic clothes? You know, that don't have cows on them...Or some cool costumes?"

"Afraid not."

Billy sighed. He should have expected as much. If he couldn't get anything music related to entertain himself and later teach the kid what good music(his music) was then he had hoped for some new material for some outfits. Too much to hope for in this podunk town he supposed.

"Hmmm...I don't recognize your voice. Are you new to town?"

_Yup, she's blind as a bat_, "Just visiting some family. Do you have any movies? Like action movies or even some B-horror flicks? My cousin likes scary stuff."

She seemed to perk up at this, "Scary stuff, you say? I don't have any movies but I do have these," the old woman took several items out from under the desk. There were some monster themed sticker sheets and a pack of skull shaped cookies, "You wouldn't happen to know Spencer, would you?"

"That's my cousin."

She chuckled, "I thought as much. Sometimes he pops in here so I keep some of these around even if it's not in the Halloween season. He gets so excited about them and he prattles on about his favorite monster movies. Hehehe, sometimes he tells me some of his own stories but he's so shy. He says he would rather have me see them like he sees his little movies. He is quite the adorable little scamp."

Lightbulb moment. If at least one person showed interest in the kids' stuff then maybe there was a way to get others interested too. Billy thanked her and purchased the monster stickers, some musical themed ones she had, as well as the cookies and some candy before heading back.

Instead of going to the house he went directly to the fort and spent the last few hours finishing it. Billy completed the little stage area in the fort: adding a makeshift curtain, finishing the storage areas for costumes and props, and finishing some backdrops. When he was satisfied with his work he went to the cabin. There was only one more thing that could complete his plan.

Billy crept into the cabin and towards the back room. He couldn't seem to shake the feeling that he wasn't alone and every few moments he glanced around in the anticipation a raccoon was going to attack him. He crept into the back room and as Spencer said the camcorder was back on the end table. Billy grinned as he picked it up and looked it over. The Hughster loved to tinker with things, he wasn't great at it but maybe he could get it working enough to record. That way the kid could show people his stuff like those people who make movies do. What were they called? Billy has walked out on enough sets he should know the word by now...Eh, the kid will figure it out.

Billy opened his bag and put the camera in the shoebox. Then he turned and started out of the cabin. Something creaked heavily against the wood flooring in the back and he stopped. His head wiped around but he saw nothing. As if on impulse he glanced once again to the doll cabinets in the back to triple check that they were closed. A quick look around the rest of the cabin assured him he was alone. He shivered at the thought of encountering another animal and left.

When he got back at the Wright's house he left the camcorder on the Hugh-mans' workbench with a sticky note asking to see if he can fix it. Then right as he ducked out of the garage he saw the familiar old station wagon rolling up the dirt road. Billy waited as it screeched to a stop in the driveway and out jumped the kid.

"Billy!" Spencer shouted as he ran up to the pop star and leaped onto him.

Billy caught him just in time, caught off guard by the hug, "Hey, lil' dude. You have a good day?"

When he was back on his feet Spencer smiled up at him, "Yeah, no one pushed me around!"

"Awesomesauce! You tell them of your epic escape from the terrifying Kinder Snatch like we rehearsed?"

Spencer nodded, "Uh-huh! I told em he's my friend so if they pick on me again he'll come and get them!"

Billy grinned and ruffled his hair, "Perfect, my little horror helmer! Hey, I got some surprises for you today."

Spencer gasped and his expression brightened with anticipation.

"Baruch!"

Billy winced. Of course… He looked to the front door to see his mother waiting for him. Busted. He sighed, "You go ahead to the fort, ok? I'll catch up."

Spencer nodded eagerly before returning to his dad right as Jane came outside while cradling Jessica to greet them. She shared a fleeting kiss with her husband and gave Spence a hug. Billy found the sight heartwarming(not a word he thought he'd ever use). The three talked for a bit before Spencer ran off towards the back of the house, presumably to the fort. Billy watched Jane and Hugh talking for a moment longer before looking back at his mother. With her arms crossed and tapping her foot, the image sent a feeling of dread coursing through him. He sighed and looked up at the darkening sky before following her inside.

"Baruch, we need to talk," his mother said as she led him into the living room.

Billy groaned, _here we go_, "Yeah?"

"As you have likely already guessed I am not happy that you got yourself out of the funeral. It's the reason we even came here."

_Not the only reason..._"Yeah, yeah, I know, but someone has to watch Spence."

She crossed her arms, "While I'm happy you've chosen to take on the responsibility of watching your cousin I'm not convinced you're doing it purely out of the goodness of your heart. I'm disappointed in you for finding a cop-out, AGAIN."

Billy glared at the floor, "I don't like funerals…"

"Baruch, it's part of life and you're going to have to get used to it sooner or later. Chances are a lot more people will die before you do. You've always managed to weasel your way out ever since-"

Billy shot his glare over to her, daring her to finish.

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "I understand your aversion to them, but-"

Then, by the grace of God, Jane popped her head in from the kitchen, "I don't mean to interrupt…"

Billy's mom opened her mouth but he beat her to it, "You're not interrupting. What's up?" he asked as he ignored his mothers' glare.

"Do either of you know where Spencer ran off to? He's not out back and it looks like it may start to storm soon. I don't want him outside if it does."

Billy grinned, _Bingo_, "I do! I can go get him."

"Thank you, sweetie," she smiled before slipping back into the kitchen.

His mother grabbed his shoulder before he could bolt, "We're not done. Spencer is one thing I wanted to discuss. You can get him in a minute."

Billy glared. He could argue that 'in a minute' it could start to rain but her expression was set with such resolve it killed the words in his throat. He already knew he wasn't going to like where this was going.

"I also know you haven't been doing anything I've asked you to do, and this isn't just about your homeschooling. What exactly did Jane mean about dressing up earlier?"

Billy rolled his eyes, "I'm not doing anything to 'negatively influence' the kid if that's what you think. We've just been playing around."

"As long as that's all you're doing. I don't want your bad habits influencing him which is exactly what I've been trying to teach you."

"Oh come on, Mom. It's not like I take him out partying and getting wasted. Hell, I don't even curse around the kid."

She raised an obnoxious eyebrow.

Billy scoffed, "We've just been playing typical kid stuff, alright? Pretending to be monsters and stuff. Nothing weird."

"Really?" She then took several garments out of one of her suitcases. They were the more scandalous costumes Billy had hidden in his luggage.

"You went through my stuff?!"

"Of course I did. You've lied to me more than once and hid things from me. How could I trust you not to keep lying? And don't think I didn't notice the makeup you took out of the bag after I explicitly told you I was keeping it until this trip is over."

Billy was starting to see red, "What is it with you? Why do you care so much about what I do all the sudden?!"

"You need to learn that your actions have consequences and young kids like Spencer are easily influenced. Lying, stealing, throwing tantrums, or performing outrageous stunts for attention aren't good things for a kid to learn. He isn't famous like you, if any of this behavior rubs off on him people around here won't accept it. Do you want other kids to bully him?"

"He already is bullied because he likes scary movies! Besides, it's not like I'm putting makeup on him and dressing the kid up as a freaking cheerleader! I'm just been boosting his confidence so he's not afraid to show off the stuff he likes. So what if it's different? He's doing better since I've been helping him."

"And what happens when we leave and you're no longer around for him?"

Billy opened his mouth but closed it again. What was going to happen to the kid when they left?

"I'm not saying what he's into is weird. What I'm trying to say is that from a social standpoint things are different here and how one presents themselves can impact how others receive them. Your flamboyant way of handling social problems, like the streaking incident, won't work for everyone. Especially, not in a small farm town."

Billy flushed at the memory. He wasn't embarrassed about it before but when she puts it like she kind of had a point. Billy thought back to the other day when he helped Spencer scar the bullies. Dressing up as a pseudo grim reaper or any other monster won't work a second time and next time Billy wouldn't be there to help. If the other kids got wind that Spencer's stunts were just that, stunts, then the bullying could get worse.

"He's a smart kid and can learn to work through any bullying on his own. I'm sure he'll soon make lots of friends, too. But he'll have an easier time developing and learning how to interact with people and present his interests without your over-the-top 'solutions'. That's how normal kids do it. Not like some of the stunts and tantrums you pull when someone doesn't agree with you. Do you at least understand that?"

Billy gritted his teeth but nodded.

"Now for the other thing that's concerning me," she sighed as she fiddled with his mermaid shell bra.

He winced and knew what was coming.

"I had hoped you would grow out of certain phases but I was clearly wrong and this trip has done nothing to rectify it as I had hoped. Baruch, your fans might be ok with it now but like I said it'll get old. Your managers and producers only care as long as they aren't losing money. The second it starts to impact that they'll drop you. As your mother, I don't want to see something like this ruin you."

Billy bristled and tried to ignore the stinging in his eyes, "Dad wouldn't have had any problems with this stuff!"

Her expression hardened and Billy knew he struck a chord but he wasn't sure if it was a good one, "I knew your father longer than you knew him. You have no idea what he would have thought."

_That's not fair,_ "He was a musician too, right? A performer. He'd get me."

"He never made it as a successful musician as he promised me he would. But when I saw you had the potential that he didn't-"

"You thought what? That I could be your cash cow instead?"

"No, that's not-"

"Yes, it is!"

"Baruch, your father wasn't great with his music like he wanted to be but he wasn't terrible. If he worked harder he could have made it. But he also had some..._strange_ tendencies like you which were the real reasons why he never made it as big as he dreamed of. People didn't accept some of the things he did, things like you do now."

"So that's where I get it from? See, he would have supported me! Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Everything he promised and hoped for fell apart because of it. Back then we didn't have much which was fine for the two of us but when you came along I convinced him to take a NORMAL job for the sake of this family. Then after he passed and you wanted to keep doing music I wanted to support you but I knew I had to try and make sure things didn't follow the same path."

"He was my _Dad_, I have a right to know!

"I didn't want your life to fall apart too because of some phase, so I never told you that much about your father. I thought if you didn't know things would turn out better for you than they did for him. But I'm afraid of it happening again if this continues, dear."

Billy gritted his teeth, he refused to let his tears spill over in front of her, "I wish dad was still around. Maybe then I'd get some decent support in this shitty family!"

He didn't bother waiting for a response and he bolted through the kitchen past Jane's concerned expression and out the back door.

Billy kicked a rock as he walked along the dirt road towards the old cabin property. The fight with his mom kept turning over and over in his head. She would never understand or support him. Finding out that his father probably would have just hurt even more. He wished he could have had a few more years with him to get to know him better, but that was taken from him. Billy couldn't help but find some dark humor in the irony. He was a superstar and had anything anyone could have wanted in the world: fame, fortune, fans, glory. But the thing he wanted the most right now, the thing he would trade this whole damn lifestyle for, he could never have. Ever.

Sure the Wrights were technically family and they didn't seem to have any problems with him but it may only be a false kindness because of his fame. And they were distant relatives at best. He didn't know for sure if they actually cared and even if they did he was leaving in two days so it wouldn't matter. He didn't know when, or if, he'd ever get to see them again. If he could would they even want him to? Billy's mom was right in that some of his exploits wouldn't be setting a good example for the kid. If Spencer's parents had any kind of access to a tabloid they'd discover some of his less than savory stunts. They might not want that kind of influence around their kid.

What would happen to Spence? Sure he seemed to be doing better now but that was because Billy helped him with some dumb prank. What was going to happen when Billy wasn't around to have his back? Maybe his mom had the right intention about discouraging any weird stuff. Billy's method might have scared the bullies for now but it wasn't a sure fire way of making friends. Spencer needed to make real friends since Billy was likely only a temporary one. The kids' interest in horror wasn't all that abnormal, he'd find friends who liked stuff like that too. After all, the old General Store lady encouraged him and so did his own parents. Unlike Billy's mom...

As Billy slipped through the fence he tried to figure out what to tell the kid, IF he should say anything. But his mind blanked. All he could think about was how complete the Wright family was. How they all supported each other and how happy they seemed. He kind of resented it. It only reminded him of the void in his chest left behind by his dad that he had tried to fill with fame and fortune. It had failed.

Billy dragged his feet into the fort but the kid wasn't there. He wasn't in the mood to play games today. He walked back out but refused to go any further into the property.

Billy cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Spencer! Come on, we have to go!" He waited a few seconds but didn't get a response, "I don't have time for Hide 'N Seek today, kid! Come on!"

A few moments later the pitter patter of feet told him of Spencer's approach. The kid popped out from around a pile of trash and stared up at Billy with something like concern on his face. But Billy ignored it.

"Come on, we gotta go home. Your mom doesn't want you outside if it starts to storm."

Spencer glanced at the sky in confusion then back at him, "But it's not stormy."

"Doesn't matter, let's just go back, ok?" Billy didn't wait for him as he started back towards the house.

Spencer ran up next to him, "But Billy I thought you said we were going to play more today…"

"Yeah, well, change of plans. Sorry, kid."

Spencer ran in front of him, making Billy stop, and he stomped his foot, "But you promised!"

Billy sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face, "I know I did but your parents want you home, so stop whining."

Spencer frowned up at him with those big teary eyes. On a normal day they'd get to him but now he wasn't in the mood. He walked past the kid and continued on. Spencer followed, continuing to pout and he kept glancing back towards the junkyard every few seconds.

It started to irritate Billy, "What is it?" he inwardly winced at the sharpness of his tone.

Spencer jumped a little, "The ghost said you took the camera. If we're not gonna play we need to give it back."

Billy exhaled a long, heated breath. He was sick of anything 'undead', "Spence, I'm really not in the mood to play pretend right now."

"I'm not playing! The ghost we have to give it back," the kid stamped his foot again. Billy's had enough tantrums of his own to know the kid was about to have one and he DID NOT want to deal with it. All he wanted was to go home, lock himself in the room, and mope on his stupid air mattress. But the kid was going to keep pestering him until he did something.

"Spence, look, I know I promised I'd play with you so we'll do something when we get back, alright? But stop with the ghosts and monsters for a while, I'm sick of it."

He heard a hitch in the kid's breath and Billy felt a pang of guilt.

"I thought you said it wasn't weird…"

"I-" aw shoot, this isn't what he wanted, "It's not weird, Spence. It-It's just, uhg! That stuff isn't real Spence and I'm not in the mood for games right now, ok? Drop it."

"But it was real! If we don't return the camera the ghost is gonna get mad, Billy!"

Billy's could almost feel his anger bubbling over, "Sorry to break it to you, squirt, but that stuff isn't real. It's all make-believe. There are no zombies, no vampires, and no GHOSTS."

"But there ARE! There are ghosts, Billy!"

"No. There. AREN'T. Trust me, I would know."

The kid huffed, "Yeah, right."

Billy's fists clenched, "I DO know, brat."

"Have you seen one? Talked to one?"

"No, but-"

"Well, _I_ did! So they are real!"

"Spence, seriously I'm not in the mood. Just drop it!"

"But we have to do what the ghost said!"

"No, we don't because ghosts. AREN'T. REAL."

"How would you know?!"

That's it, he finally snapped and whirled around, "Because if they were then my dad would still be here, ok?!"

Spencer jumped and stared at him with eyes like saucers. It wasn't something Billy wanted to talk about but he was too angry right now. Between the fight with his mom, missing his dad, and now the kid egging him on he was done with today. Billy spun around, stormed over to a stump and collapsed onto it. He rested his elbows on his knees and threaded his fingers through his hair to hold his head up as he leaned over. A little voice in the back of his head told him not to take it out on the kid but his anger and grief drowned it out. For a long few moments, he sat there silently and focused on breathing. In. Out. In. Out.

"But he's gone," Billy hated the way his voice cracked, "and that's what happens when you die. You don't come back as a zombie or a vampire or a ghost. You're just gone and you leave people behind. So stop, ok? Leave me alone..." He couldn't continue because if he did he'd completely break down and that wasn't a pretty sight.

Billy was going to leave Spencer and the Wrights behind in two days, so perhaps it was better if the kid was upset with him when he left. It would make it eas-

He felt small arms wrap around his middle and something lean against his side. Billy looked over at Spencer, "What are you doing?"

"Mom always says hugs help when people are sad…"

Sad? Billy thought he was pissed or-he didn't know what he was feeling. There were too many things going on at once. But when he blinked and fat tears rolled down his face he knew the kid was right.

Billy put a hand over his face to try to stop the spasms and sobs which threatened to break free. Even now the kid was still trying to help him even when he was being a jerk. _Dammit,_ "Why are you being nice to me?"

Spencer pouted and thought for a moment, "Mom says that what family is supposed to do: Be there for each other."

Unable to keep holding back anymore Billy broke down. He pulled the kid into a tight hug and for a while, they just sat there.

It was later than Billy anticipated when the two finally made it back to the house. Thankfully, the sky had shown them mercy as it hadn't started to rain yet. Jane had greeted them with relief and joked that she was about to call the National Guard. Billy tried to mirror her happy demeanor but couldn't quite find the energy. She must have noticed something was off because she frowned and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze before ushering the boys to wash up for dinner. His mother was too busy talking on the phone to notice they had returned until they sat down to eat.

Billy didn't say a word during dinner and afterward, he and Spencer went upstairs to the kids' room. Spence dragged his paper and crayons out from under his bed and started to scribble. Billy plopped down on his air mattress, leaned back against the wall, and stared at nothing for a long time. His mind was blank and he felt drained, both mentally and physically. He had never broken down like that before and if made him feel this exhausted he never wanted it to happen again.

Then he felt something against his leg. He blinked out of his daze to see a piece of paper resting on his lap. It was a childish drawing of two stick figures: One taller than the other and wearing a kind of multi-colored cape with little stars on it, star glasses, and holding a red guitar in one hand. The shorter stick figure with spiky brown hair and was holding what looked like the red camcorder. At least that's what Billy assumed it was seeing as it was just a red rectangle with a black circle at the end. Billy looked over at Spencer.

Spencer grinned at him, "Better than Eldon-um...Elden-Elder...El-"

"Elton John?"

Spencer nodded.

A soft chuckle escaped him, "Thanks."

"You like it?"

Billy slung an arm around the kids' shoulders and pulled him into a small hug, "It's bro-mazing. Sorry I was such a tool earlier. I got into a fight with my mom before I came to get you and I didn't mean to take it out on you."

Spencer smiled and nodded in acceptance of his apology, "What did you fight about?"

Billy let out a world-weary sigh, "About me. About my dad. Family stuff, ya know? Makes me wish he was still around."

Spencer frowned and twiddled his thumbs. Billy could sense the kid either didn't know what to say or still didn't quite understand. Right, change of subject then, no more of this moping around for BJC. It ruined his image.

Billy grabbed his bag, "Got a surprise for ya."

Spencers' eyes widened and he smiled. Billy pulled out the sticker sheets, candy, and cookies he'd bought earlier at the general store.

"Turns out you got a fan already. The lady at the store likes listening to you talking about your horror stories and she keeps this stuff around for you. You should make movies like how we were playing around at the fort and show people."

Spencer beamed at the stuff before he looked up at Billy with concern, "But people will think it's weird, right?"

Billy shook his head, "People who make stuff like that are mega-normal. They're not weird, they're artists. At least in Hollywood. Make it that far and millions of people could see your stuff and you can become a super famous movie making person!"

Spencer grinned up at him again, "Really?"

"Really, really! You might become almost as famous as me. But not AS famous as me, I mean no one can be as great as BJC. But you're family so it's in your veins, you'll get close," Billy then took out the shoebox, "Ok! Let's make this thing awesome."

They spent a while decorating their 'secret-stash' box as they snacked on the candy and cookies. They put the monster and music-themed stickers on and doodled all over the box. It became their special safe where they could store all their favorite stuff without worrying about prying eyes. Billy put Spencers' drawing inside it for safekeeping. Spencer was especially proud of it.

By the time they finished, it was time for lights out but both boys were still wide awake from the sugar high. They slipped out the window, leaving the little building block in the way again to keep it open, and sat on the porch roof so they wouldn't disturb anyone inside. It wasn't raining but it was still partly cloudy and the moon would peek through a crack in the clouds every now and then.

Billy brought out his guitar and stared at it for a bit. His prized bright red sparkly guitar that probably cost way too much. He didn't seem to care as much anymore. Instead of feeling the same star-studded pride he'd felt before now it simply felt normal. It was just a guitar. Not this fancy symbol of who he now was, which he wasn't feeling too great about at the moment. He needed to fix that, BJC doesn't do gloomy.

Billy looked up at the kid, "Hey, Spence. Still wanna learn a few chords?"

The kid's face lit up and he scooted over next to him. Billy laid the guitar over their laps and showed Spencer how to hold the pick and pluck the strings. With each pluck, Billy held the string in the correct place and told Spence which chord he was playing, just like his dad did for him when he was a kid.


	8. A Cobra and a Bat go on an adventure

A strange and terrible thunder roared through the night after the boys went to bed. It seemed as if it were somewhere far off in the distance but it was still loud enough to disrupt their sleep. Each time Billy found himself drifting off another tremendous rumble would wake him up. Even if he plugged his ears he could still feel it reverberate through his bones. Although the thunder sounded odd Billy told himself he was just psyching himself out. Plus, he was too tired to think about it. Today had drained him and he didn't care to dwell too much on creepy thunder, he'd rather be sleeping. Billy huffed and rolled onto his side to glare at the window as if it could stop the storm. But he was surprised to see Spencer sitting up in bed staring out the window.

"Storm keeping you up too?" he asked.

"I don't think that's a real storm..." Spencer's voice was flat. Ominous.

A chill ran up Billy's spine. He sat up and tried to shake it off, figuring the kid must be trying to scare him. Then a blast of thunder, so loud the window rattled against its frame, startled both boys. Billy saw a flash of movement before something collided with his ribcage, knocking the breath right out of him. He coughed and sputtered, at first afraid something was attacking him and as he went to shove it off. But he stopped when he recognized the familiar mop of brown hair that was attempting to burrow into his chest.

"Broslice, you keep running into me like that you're gonna break one of the Cobra's precious bones."

The kid didn't answer as he turned his head to stare out the window again, his little arms tightened around Billy with the next rumble. Billy frowned down at him. This was weird. Something about seeing Spencer afraid, the same kid who LOVES all things scary, made him uneasy. But it was just a storm, right? Heck, if Billy were honest he'd admit it scared him too.

"Don't worry, bitsy-bro, it's only a little thunder. Nothing scary, right?" Billy said as he tried to control the tremble in his own voice.

Spencer looked up at him, biting his lip with a pulled expression.

"Let's try to go back to sleep," Billy patted the kid's head before gently prying him off and lying down again.

Spencer walked back to his bed, grabbed his blanket and wrapped himself in it. Then he trotted back over to the air mattress and plopped down next to Billy with his back facing the pop-star. Billy frowned as he remembered doing the same thing when he was a kid. When nasty storms would come through in the middle of the night little Billy had gone running, crying and screaming, to his parents. Spencer was handling it better than he ever had. Billy reached over and ruffled the kids' hair but Spencer didn't respond, didn't even look at him.

Spencer may love horror but he was still just a little kid. Billy shouldn't be so surprised that something scared him. He tried to remember the bedtime stories his dad told him to ease him back to sleep when he was a kid. But his mind blanked. It was ages ago and he remembered very little anymore.

"Hey uh...since we're both still awake... you know any stories?" he felt ridiculous for asking but he didn't know what else to do.

Spencer rolled over to look at him and was quiet for a moment. Then his face brightened, "I know one! Attack of the Mutant Mantis!"

Billy balked, "A...scary story?"

Spencer nodded.

Billy didn't even want to know where he heard that story, "I don't suppose you know any not scary stories?"

Spencer pouted and shook his head.

Another clap of thunder made Billy jolt and he decided scary stories were not a good idea right now, "Uuuuhhh, you know what? I think I just remember one! Yeah, and it's a totally awesome story so prepare yourself, Spenstar!"

Spencer grinned and snuggled down into his blanket despite the rumbling of thunder outside.

Billy cleared his throat in an all too dramatic fashion, "Once upon a time, there was a super gorgeous, super famous, and super talented singing Cobra who had an awesome magic guitar. He was adored by ALL the other animals in his bro-mazing kingdom-"

"Is this about you?"

"What?! No, no way. This is all fictional and not in any way related to any real people. Now pay attention. One day the fabulous Cobra went to visit his four cousins who lived in the forest: The Hen, The-the...uhh the Dog! The baby girl was the uh-" Billy tried to think of the most vicious animal he's ever heard of. Then he recalled one he encountered on his first tour through India. Or rather one of his very unfortunate bandmates did when he was still in a boy band, "-The Honey Badger, and the little boy waaasss-" he glanced around the room and spotted one of Spencer's toys on the floor that they hadn't put away. It was a bat. Perfect, "The Bat!"

Spencer gasped, "I'mma bat?! Awesome!"

"Hey! I said this is fictional and no way related to real people. Now, as I was saying! The mighty Cobra went to visit his cousins and at first, he was not into it, like at all. But the little bat worked his little way under the Cobras' scales and although he was kind of a total pain at first-"

Spencer huffed at him.

"-the Cobra eventually thought he wasn't too bad. But then the Cobra found out the little bat was being picked on at...animal...school…"

Spencer gave him a skeptical look, "Animals don't go to school."

"Well, in this story they do. So the little bat was being picked on by three ugly little rats. All because the little Bat was different and had monster friends as bats do."

"What kind of monster friends do bats have?"

"Skeletons, werewolves, vampires, and zombies, of course! But only the little Bat could see the monsters so the other animals didn't believe his stories and thought he was weird."

Spencer frowned.

"But he wasn't weird, he was mega normal!" Billy quickly amended, "And you see the Cobra was different too. He was stylish and creative outside the norm. But his Witch caretaker didn't like it and tried to put a stop to his fabulousness. However, the little Bat thought the Cobra was super cool and mega normal too so they started hanging out. The Bat told the Cobra lots of stories about his monster friends who lived in the forest. In return, the Cobra told stories of his awesome performances, adoring fans, and he sang his songs. They built a super secret lair, went on awesome adventures, and made a magical box to protect the treasure they gathered. Then they hatched a plan to scare the rats who bullied the little Bat. They summoned one of their monster friends to scare the living daylights out of them and it worked!"

Spencer cheered and clapped.

"But…" Billy hesitated, deciding now might be as good a time as any to bring up what he talked to his mom about, "although the two bros got along and had lots of fun the Cobra couldn't stay forever. He had to return to his kingdom and leave his cousins behind…"

Spencer frowned.

"But, the Cobra was confident his advice taught the little Bat how to stick up for himself and how to make friends."

"But what if he couldn't? What if he got lonely?" Spencer asked.

"Then, uh…" Billy frowned and looked around the room until his eyes landed on his guitar. He smiled, "Well...that wouldn't happen cuz the Cobra and the Bat made a totally awesome song together on the Cobras' magic guitar. Any time the little Bat got lonely he'd listen to the song and he wouldn't feel so lonely anymore. The song was about all their awesome adventures and it promised they'd have more awesome times. It also reminded him of the Cobra's awesome advice that the little Bat took to heart so he could make lots of friends. As long as that was in the song then it'd definitely come true."

"Really?!"

"Really really! It was a magic guitar after all so any song made on it came true. Plus, the Cobra was super cool, there's no way he'd let his bestest bro down."

Spencer grinned and hugged Billy. Billy breathed a sigh of relief and listened as the rumbling outside began to subside, "Sounds like the storm is stopping. Think we can sleep now?"

Spence nodded, "Uh-huh!"

"Good cuz I'm exhausted…" he ruffled the kids' hair, "Night, kiddo."

"Goodnight, Billy," Spencer yawned as he cozied into his blanket and pillow.

The thunder had died down to a distant rumble. It would be relaxing if it wasn't for the creeping feeling which continued to crawl under his skin when he heard it. Once Spencer was sound asleep he cautiously reached over and dragged his bag closer to dig through it. He pulled out a little notebook he wrote songs in and a pencil. He turned on the kids' night light that was plugged into the wall. Spencer didn't mind the darkness so it was mostly for baby Jessica though Billy doubted she needed it either. He opened the book to start working on lyrics for a new song.

At the crack of dawn, Jane shouted up the stairs as she had almost every morning, "Boys, breakfast will be ready soon!"

Billy groaned into his pillow. As much as he loved Crazy Janeys' cooking today was not a day for BJC to willingly be conscious so early in the morning. Especially since it was Saturday. He let out an exaggerated yawn, "Five more minutes…" For a few moments, things were blissfully silent again.

"Biiilllyyyy~"

Billy growled. No. Nope. Not getting up. Billy buried his face in his pillow

"Biiiiiillllyyy~" came the singsong voice of the kid again.

"Nooooo~" He echoed, muffled by the pillow.

"Wake uuuup~!"

"Never."

Thump! Something soft smacked the back of his head. Billy tilted his head enough to glare at Spencer from one eye. The kid stood next to the mattress, already dressed for the day, and doing a poor job of hiding a pillow behind him. "Did you. Just hit me. With a pillow?"

Spencer appeared to stifle his laughter, "Nooo~"

Billy squinted at him before closing his eye once again. Thump! "Keep it up, kid, and I'll mess you up…"

Spencer giggled. Thump!

Billy groaned. He still felt drained from yesterdays' events and the restless night so he didn't feel like moving. Why did kids have so much energy?

Thump!

"I'm warning you…"

Thump!

"Seriously,"

Thump!

"I'm not kidding,"

Thump!

"This is your last warning…"

Thump! Thump!

"That's it!" Billy growled and jumped up, grabbed the kid, and proceeded to tickle him relentlessly. Spencer laughed, screamed, and tried to push him away but Billy wouldn't let him go.

"Boys, if you're not down here soon all the food will be gone!" Jane shouted again.

Billy sighed, "Ok!" he then blew a huge wet raspberry on Spencer's cheek.

"Eeeewww!" Spencer flailed and wiped away the spit on his face.

"HA! That's what you get! Tickle monster doesn't fool around, ya gremlin!"

Spencer retaliated by throwing another pillow at him. Billy caught it and threw it back as Spencer ducked out of the room and ran downstairs. Billy groaned, too awake now to go back to sleep he dragged himself to his feet. The notebook he was scribbling in last night lay off to the side of the air mattress so he stuffed it back in his bag. He didn't want the kid finding it and spoiling the surprise.

He dug through his suitcase to grab some clothes when his eyes landed on the secret pocket. Billy hesitated before taking out his dads' guitar pick necklace and staring at it. But the necklace wasn't the only thing he had hidden in the pocket. He also took out several pieces of paper which had sketches done by one of his designers for outfit ideas. He flipped through each one. Some he had already approved and started having made and others he had yet to approve. He stopped at one currently being made. It was tame compared to some of the other designs. A purple and black studded crop jacket, open midriff, fierce makeup and nails, and purple pants with the knee-high boots. The same boots which were now ruined from dirt and nature over the last few days. He grumbled at the prospect of having to get new ones. But with yesterday's fight and breakdown still fresh in his mind he was starting to have doubts. He looked at the necklace again and wondered what his dad would have really thought about all this.

"Did you draw those?" came a voice.

Billy jumped, clutching the sketches and necklace to his chest. He looked back to see Jane in the doorway.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I wanted to see if you were coming down to eat this morning. You usually sleep in," she said.

"Ah! Um-no no-I mean yes! For breakfast, I will be down for breakfast,"

She nodded and glanced at the pictures again.

Billy glanced at them too, "These are- uh- my designer did these. They're nothing, just stupid sketches…"

"Can I see?" she smiled.

Billy felt his face heat up, now self-conscious about the outfits displayed on the paper. He was afraid she'd have the same reaction his mother did. He had a vague notion of understanding what his mother kept telling him.

He shook his head. No. That wasn't the Cobra way and it certainly wasn't what he was trying to teach the kid about self-confidence. Billy thrust the pages out towards her, a little harder than necessary. She took them and looked over the drawings for several long moments. Billy refused to look at her as she did. He was too nervous to see the expression on her face. Then the mattress shifted with extra weight and the pages returned to his lap.

"Can I make a suggestion?" she asked.

Billy's heart sank with dread, "S-Sure…"

Fingers gently threaded through his hair, "I think you should do purple highlights to match."

Billy blinked and looked up at her. She had a very sincere smile on her face and his fears washed away in an instant. He smiled back at the sketch, "You think so?"

She nodded.

"What do you think about the boots? The ones I wanted to use got ruined so I need new ones."

Her face brightened and she clasped her hands together, "Oh! I saw Steve Pateman's new collection with a lovely pair of black boots and custom colored belts! Maybe you can get one with purple belts to match!"

"You're right, I totally forgot about the new collection! Oh, I am so getting some when I get home!" he cheered giddily, grabbing one of the kids' colored pencils to scribble the idea onto the drawing.

Jane giggled, "Glad I could help."

"Hey, you're ok with this kind of stuff? You're not just being nice to me because I'm famous, are you?"

"No, silly. I don't see anything wrong with it as long as it makes you happy."

Billy swallowed past a lump in his throat, "Thanks. You know, my mom doesn't like stuff like this so I guess it's nice to hear someone finally say that. Other than Spence of course, but he's a kid so I don't think he really gets it…"

A guilty expression came over her face, "Yes, I may have accidentally overheard your...disagreement with your mother."

Billy winced, "It's hard not to. My manager complaints about how loud our fights get all the time."

Jane frowned and rubbed his back, "Are you ok, sweetie?"

Billy nodded, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks."

She smiled and pulled him into a brief hug, "Maybe you can come and help me pick out my makeup and accessories later."

"Heck yeah!" Billy cheered.

"Good, I look forward to it. Now, breakfast will be waiting downstairs when you're ready," she pat him on the back before heading back downstairs.

With renewed vigor, he jumped up and went to the bathroom to get cleaned up and dressed for the day. Instead of grabbing his usual guitar pick necklace, the one with his logo, he decided it was time again to wear his dads' again. If only for a little while, the doubt which had crept into his mind was gone.

Once he had washed up and dressed he ran downstairs into the kitchen, "Good morning."

"Morning', sonny!" Hugh beamed, "That was some storm last night, huh? Did you two sleep ok?"

"Oh yeah, the Cobra was fine, but little Spency here got scared," he teased as he ruffled Spencer's hair just to annoy him.

The kid stuck his tongue out at him to which Billy playfully mirrored. He sat between the kids and glanced at Jessica. She stared at him from her high chair with a judging squint on her face. He squinted back, the mark of his black eye still slightly visible on his face. Billy decided to try a different approach. He held out a fist and let it hover in the air between them. After a moment, the baby held out her tiny fist and bumped it against his.

Billy grinned, "That's more like it!"

A hot plate of pancakes dripping in syrup, butter, and topped with fluffy cream was set in front of him. Billy licked his lips and made a mental note not to tell his nutritionist about the meals he's eaten while here. As he was about to dig in he happened to glance over at his mother. She was nibbling at some eggs and toast and staring at the table with an exhausted expression. He wondered if she was tired from all the management stuff she's been working on or from their fight as he had been. But when she looked up he averted his eyes to the table. He could feel the tension between them and he'd rather waited until it subsided before talking to her again. He wanted to ask more about his father but doubted she'd tell him. Billy fiddled with his necklace. He'd have to look into it on his own when he got home.

The morning progressed into the afternoon and the boys found ways of entertaining themselves while the adults got ready to leave. The two tried to outdo each other with pranks and scare tactics(Spencer won not that Billy would admit), they dressed up and played pirates and sailors, zombies, Billy tried to teach Spencer a few more chords on the guitar, and all the while Hugh chased them around with his Polaroid camera. Much to Billy's growing irritation. Looks like he hadn't escaped the paparazzi after all. When Billy asked about the camcorder Hugh said he hadn't gotten it operational yet but he was still working on it. The man planned on taking it with him today to tinker with if there was downtime. Billy decided not to question the morality of doing something like that at a funeral and left the strange man to his strange ways.

When it was time for the adults, and Jessica, to leave for the funeral Billy had succeeded in helping both Jane and Hugh look their best. He even made sure Jessica had the perfect ribbons to match her little dress. Though the baby didn't look too pleased to be all dolled up. Billy and Jane swapped hair and beauty tips and she even added some suggestions for hair and makeup looks on more of his costumes. It was such a refreshing feeling.

"Ok you two, we'll be back in a few hours, so hold down the fort for us!" Hugh beamed.

"And I know you two like to go exploring but please at least stay on the property until we get back. I don't want the house unattended and it looks like it might storm again. That thunder last night was pretty bad..." Jane added.

Billy and Spencer nodded. Billy glanced at his mother who stared back and for a moment he thought he saw a flicker of...regret? Remorse? It was a flicker of something across her face but it was gone in a flash as she walked out of the house and got in the car.

"It's a long drive so we'll be back a bit late. There are leftovers in the fridge if you two get hungry," Jane said before she and Hugh left with the baby in tow.

Billy and Spencer watched and waited as the car drove down the road and disappeared over the horizon.

"Whoohoo! Time for some guy fun!" Billy bounded back inside with Spencer on his heels. He raced upstairs, grabbed his guitar and holstered it onto his back. Then he slung his bag onto his shoulder, "What do you say we go to the fort and you help BJC get some inspiration for an epic new song?"

Spencer grinned, "Like in the story?"

"No, not like in the story, I told you that was totally fictional. BJC's got a recording session coming up and I need to make some new tunes so you're gonna help. Now come on, let's go!"

"But mom said not to go out…" Spencer frowned.

"Dude, it's called sneaking out. 'Cept not really cuz there's no one else home. We'll only be gone for a little bit and be back waaaayy before they get home. Besides, we should bring back some of the stuff we left there before it gets trashed in the rain. Come on," Billy went downstairs nap some snacks and supplies before heading out back with Spencer in tow.

While the sky was overcast it did not appear as menacing as the thunder last night had suggested. The ground was mercifully dry, so dry in fact it was as if it hadn't rained at all. Billy found this odd as he'd assumed it rained during all storms but he was at least grateful for the absence of mud. Dealing with dirt and insects was one thing, but mud? No way.

But Billy still glanced at the sky every now and then for any signs of a change in weather. The first sight of dark clouds or spit of rain and they'd go home. He wasn't keen on staying out in bad weather. One of the few things he found he liked about the country was being able to see the sky for miles. They'd see rain or a storm coming long before it hit.

When they arrived, Billy surveyed their fort as he dropped his bag on the ground. The fort was simple but he was proud of it. He'd never made anything by hand in his entire life but this he could say he did. The kid might have this to remember him by but Music was Billy's true forte and a song would be much better. He swung his guitar around in a position to play it as he hopped up on the little stage.

"Ok! What do you think, Spence? Should it be something upbeat and catchy?"

Billy played a set of rapid repeating chords. Something like the pop songs he usually recorded. He stopped when the kid only responded with a frown. Billy had been thinking about trying something different lately anyway.

"No? Ok, how about rock n' roll?" He started shredding the chords in a manner better befitting of an electric guitar than an acoustic one. Obviously, it didn't sound as good out loud as it did in his head since the kid made a face.

"Still no? Hm...ok, how about something a little calmer?" He slowed down and experimented with the tempo and melody until he found one that made them both smile, "Better?"

Spencer smiled and nodded.

Billy started humming along as he tried to match up some lyrics he scribbled last night.

"Started off a bit rough

Didn't get along

But you saw through my bluff-"

Billy smiled and nodded to himself. Humble, not a bad way to start, his fans might love to see his softer side. Definitely a change in style from what he was used to.

"So let's shake it off and have some fun

Forget my mother, your oppressors

Forget everyone-"

What do you think, Spence?" Billy abruptly broke out of song to ask. Not a bad beat so far. But it was missing something… "Oh! Or what about something like:

One day our adventures and stories

Will be seen on screen

We fought monsters

Facing all our troubles bravely ~"

Hmm...maybe. I dunno, what do you think?" But when he looked over to the kid he saw Spencer wasn't paying attention to him. He was staring at Billy's bag. This irked Billy, he wasn't used to people ignoring him. And he was making a song for both of them AND asking for advice! He never did that anymore. Most of the time he just did whatever his managers told him to do. Something about that thought made him twitch with unease.

Then he smirked as he started strumming on the guitar with a different tune as he walked closer to the kid:

"But I can see

You're bored of listening to me.

I've got to say

That's not fair cuz we've got

A whole day to play-"

Spencer STILL didn't look at him. Billy glowered, stopped playing and started snapping his fingers next to the kids' head, "Hey! Rude-o-saurus-rex! Pay attention!"

Spencer blinked at him as if he only now noticed him. Billy pouted and waited for his excuse.

"Can we go to the cabin for a sec?"

Billy was taken aback, "What? Now? Can't it wait?"

Spencer shook his head.

"Come on, dude, wait a little bit and help me with this song, huh?"

The kid pouted up at him with big shiny eyes, "Pllleeeeaaasseee?"

He grimaced and reeled back, "Aw, come on, Lil' dude. You know I can't resist the puppy dog eyes. That's so unfair!" Billy whined but the kid didn't let up. If anything he only managed to pout more. Billy groaned, "Fine! But only for a sec. Then you help me with the song, ok?"

"Kay!" Spencer cheered, grabbed the box, and darted towards the cabin. Billy stared after him for a moment, his mouth opening and closing. He'd expected at least some hesitation. He frowned more as he took his guitar off, laid it against the back wall of the stage, and went after Spencer. What did the kid want to take the box there for anyway?

Billy glanced at the sky again. Thicker, dark clouds were beginning to roll in above. There would be another storm soon. Damn. He pouted as this would mean they'd have to head home right away and he hadn't completed his song. Right as he reached the cabin he saw a little white, red, green, and brown-haired blur disappear inside. But Billy stopped when he got to the first step. Something didn't look right. Didn't feel right. It was worse than the time he grabbed the rake off the porch. Now he felt like an unwanted intruder. Billy shivered.

"Spence? Maybe this isn't such a good idea…" he called and waited but got no response. As if to confirm his fears Billy heard thunder in the distance, "Kid, there's a storm coming! We need to go!"

No answer.

He swallowed and ascended the stairs. He opened the door and despite it being daytime it was almost pitch black inside the cabin. Billy's stomach twisted. He pulled out a flashlight he had the foresight to grab from Hugh's garage and turned it on. It only dimly illuminated a few feet ahead of him.

"Spencer?"

Nothing.

Billy frowned with concern and walked into the cabin. There should at least be light spilling in through the windows, doorway, and holes in the roof but it was as dark as night inside the cabin. He took a few steps into the cabin when he heard the door slam shut behind him. He jumped and screamed, but in a completely manly fashion, and whirled around. Something giant, hairy, with claws and teeth, loomed over him. Billy screamed again and his arms flew up to cover his head as he waited for it to slice into him. He waited. And waited….Billy blinked. He felt nothing tearing him apart after several long moments and chanced a glance. The thing hadn't moved. In fact, it stood completely still next to the door. A bear, standing up on its hind legs, two front paws posed to attack, and its facial features were stuck in a silent roar. Taxidermy.

Billy slumped. He wasn't sure what he had expected. Ax murderer perhaps? Not some stuffed bear. Billy could hear the wind picking up outside as it hit the exterior of the cabin and the old wooden walls creaked from the strain. A faint rumble of thunder accompanied it.

"Must have been the wind closing the door, right? Of course, that's all. Get yourself together, Cobra!"

Billy walked further into the cabin but did a double take to the bear again. He couldn't remember seeing that thing next to the door before. Maybe he didn't notice it before.

"Spencer, come on! It's been more than a 'sec'! It's gonna start storming, we gotta go!"

Still no response. He was growing irritated and more anxious each 'sec' he was still here. When he reached a semi-cleared area he slowly panned the flashlight around the large room. Nothing had changed. Same piles of junk covered in dust and cobwebs. Nothing interesting. He heard a voice in the back room where the glass ornaments were stored, "Spence? You back there?"

As he turned towards the back room his flashlight caught two dots of light that reflected back at him from somewhere in the darkness. Eyes, his brain registered in that split second. Billy jumped and fumble the flashlight. Human eyes don't reflect light back, he knew that much.

Thoughts of scurrying rabid rats or giant insects flooded his mind as he tried to regain his grip on the object. When he finally caught it it was the wrong way around and the light shown in his face. It blinded him for a moment but he flipped it back around to where the dots had been. As the spots cleared from his vision he noticed the reflections in the darkness hadn't moved. He inspected it closer and he realized it wasn't a living creature like he had feared. Billy breathed a sigh of relief.

It's was just a stupid doll. Billy scoffed to himself for getting scared over such a silly thing and started to the back room again. Then he stopped.

Every hair on his body stood on end all at once. His eyes felt dry with how wide they became and his grip tightened so hard around the flashlight it hurt. He forced himself to take a step back and look at the doll. Its polished porcelain skin shined from the light and its bright glassy blue eyes stared right back at him. Billy took two more steps back to peer around a pile of stuff and look to the far wall where the cabinets and wardrobes were. The heavy trunk he'd pushed in front of the doll and mannequin cabinets was gone and all the doors and drawers were wide open. Every cabinet, every wardrobe was empty. The taxidermy animals which had been laying around the floor back there were also gone. Billy looked back at the doll that stared at him with its unblinking eyes.

Billy wanted to scream, and for once not care how girly it sounded, but he was frozen. Every muscle was as tense as a piano wire ready to snap. He wished they would snap because at least then he'd move or collapse. A door slammed and someone screamed. This startled him enough where he could focus and listen. The scream was from Spencer.

A new fear overtook him but this one flooded him with adrenaline. He shot towards the backroom before he even knew what he was doing. The door was closed but he'd break it down if he had to. Only a few feet away from it something caught on his ankle. Instead of slamming into the door he found himself slamming into the floor. Ow. Billy sucked in through his teeth. His face hurt from hitting the old wood and was pretty sure he bit his tongue because he tasted copper. Then Spencer screamed again.

Whatever he'd tripped on was still wrapped around his ankle. Billy immediately pushed himself up on his elbows and glared back at the thing that dared to trip him. He swore his heart stopped at the sight. Even his own imagination or Spencers' scary movies couldn't have prepared him for this. His flashlight had fallen on the floor and rolled in such a way to conveniently shine back on the thing which grabbed him. A hand, white as snow, gripped his ankle like a vice. The pale arm led up to half of a torso and head of the same color. Its face is what frightened him. Or should he say lack thereof? It had no face, only a smooth white surface. A mannequin. One that tilted its head at him. By itself.

The movies lied. He didn't immediately scream at the top of his lungs and struggle to get away. He was paralyzed again. Not a muscle moved, his lungs refused to contract or release air, and his eyes remained fixated on the mannequin. For what felt like hours they stared at one another. It got to the point Billy thought it was only a coincidence he'd tripped on the thing and it wasn't actually alive. Maybe his ankle just happened to fall in its hand and the head just happened to tilt at that exact moment from the fall. But then it moved again. Its other arm reached towards him and grabbed at his shirt.

Now he screamed. Now he kicked and flailed, hands grabbing for something, dear god ANYTHING, to throw. He couldn't see what he'd grabbed but he didn't care. He snatched objects from their piles and chucked them at the mannequin. They bounced off of it and the thing didn't seem to even notice.

Finally, his kicking paid off when his other foot hit the chest of the thing and sent it flying backward. Except the arms popped out of their sockets so he still had its arms latched onto him. Billy wasted no time in prying the hands off of him, not even caring when his shirt ripped, and he threw them as far away as possible.

"BILLY! Help!"

Spence. Billy scrambled to his feet and slammed into the backroom door. The wood was old and rotten and it broke against his weight. Billy's momentum sent him tumbling through the threshold and to the floor again on his hands and knees. Still painful.

"Billy!" Spencer shouted and Billy felt the kid collide with him again, wrapping his arms around Billy's neck, "It's not in the box, it's not in the box! I told you he'd get mad!"

"What? Who?"

"The ghost! He said you put it in the box but it's not there and now he's mad!"

"Spence, for the last time-" But Billy cut himself off. The feeling of being watched was stronger here. That and he'd just been attacked by a freaking mannequin so maybe… Billy wrapped an arm around the kid as he looked up.

Hovering in the air not five feet away was a swirling mass of darkness. Tendrils whipping around it and snapping in the air. Two giant glowing orbs nestled among the whirling coils stared down at him.

"GiVE it BaCk!" a voice bellowed all around them, vibrating through their bones.

Both boys screamed as Billy scrambled for the exit while pushing Spencer behind him.

"GIVE IT BACK!" the voice shook as the swirling mass floated towards them. The air around them hummed and every one of Billy's nerves felt like they were being pricked with electricity.

"Give what back?! I don't have anything!" If Billy wasn't so afraid he'd be embarrassed at his cracking voice.

"GIVE IT BACK!" the voice boomed so loud the whole house shook.

It made his head vibrate to the point he instantly got a headache and his ears rang. His hands flew up to the sides of his head and he squeezed his eyes shut. He felt like his head was going to split open any second. What a way to go...This wasn't one of Spencer's movies where you knew the protagonist would get out alive no matter what. They could actually get hurt or die here. HE was going to die here. Here, in this old cabin in the woods where no one else knew where they were. Among piles of trash, dirt, insects, and rats. Him: The Great BJC. How would his managers react? His fans? What would become of his-

The ringing in his ears began to die down a whimpering from behind him. Billy looked and saw the noise was coming from Spencer. The kid's eyes were glassy and his shoulders shook. The kid was terrified but he looked up at Billy with those big brown eyes for guidance.

No, they weren't going to die here.

He needed to get them out of there. Now. He scrambled to his feet, picked up the kid, and shot out of the backroom. He had enough forethought to slam the door behind him and although he knew it wouldn't lock he still heard that thing slam into the wood. His split-second feeling of victory disappeared as something hit his back. A streak of light zipped outwards from his chest, and into a stack of TV screens and computer monitors.

All the monitors turned on in an eruption of neon colored static. Billy winced and turned away from the bright lights. But what he saw surrounding them was even more frightening. The lights from the monitors lit up the room and in the dancing colors, he saw all the dolls, mannequins, and taxidermy animals around them. Hundreds of eyes staring at them, coming towards them. Billy's breath caught in his throat and he couldn't even scream. The static on the monitors stopped changing colors and plunged them into darkness for a split second before bathing them in red. When he glanced back at the screens they read 'GIVE IT BACK' against the red background. He tightened his grip around Spencer.

Billy felt movement at his feet and looking down he saw the dolls had started grabbing at his pants, crawling up his legs. "Get off, get off!" He kicked and flailed and some of them fell to the floor with a satisfying shatter. The mannequins lunged for them. Billy dodged around them, ignoring the rest of the dolls clinging to his pants, and he darted for the exit. High on adrenaline he bobbed and wove around piles of junk and shambling mannequins without a thought. He stepped on porcelain and plastic dolls that crunched beneath his feet. The few dolls that had climbed their way past his waist were thrown off by Spencer.

Then he spotted the door. He grinned and ran faster but when something jumped in his path he couldn't stop in time and he ran into it. The air was knocked from his lungs and Spencer fell from his grasp. Whatever it was he hit it threw him off like a rag doll and he tumbled into a stack of records that collapsed around him. Looming over him on hind legs was a bear. A huge, brown bear.

It roared in his face in an unnatural way, like a fuzzy recording. Billy screamed back. No time to think he just pushed himself backward. The smooth surfaces of the record covers under him slipped with each movement and he slid around with them, going nowhere. The bear crept towards him but when its paw stepped on the vinyl records it too slipped and fell. Billy saw his opening and once again reached for anything to throw.

This time he lucked out when his hand clasped something narrow, long, and metal. He thrust the object at the bear right as it snapped its jaws at him. It was a fire poker and he hit his target. The poker stabbed the bear's throat. But instead of piercing flesh it hit something hard and became lodged. There was no blood and it didn't seem in pain but as it thrashed its head the other end of the poker got stuck on something. Billy scrambled away.

Spencer screamed. Billy's head whipped around and he saw Spencer on the floor and directly in front of him was a coyote. Its joints creaked like rusty hinges as it prowled towards the kid. Its skin had torn in several places from the strain of movement and tufts of cotton seeped through like blood. But its teeth sticking out from its frozen snarl looked all too real as the coyote approached Spencer. Billy didn't think, he just acted. He vaulted onto his feet, crossed the distance in a fraction of a second and kicked the thing as hard as he could. It flew back and landed in a heap of fishing nets.

Billy immediately dropped to his knees in front of Spencer and lifted the kid to his feet, "Are you alright?!"

Spencer sniffed and blinked past teary eyes but nodded. Good. The patting of footsteps told Billy they didn't have time for a chat. Back on his feet, he grabbed Spencer's hand and they ran for the door. Billy threw it open and got to the bottom step of the porch before stopping. It was pouring rain now and lightning cracked overhead but that wasn't why he stopped. Even with as much as he hated being out in the rain. More animals were waiting for them outside, blocking their way back into the junkyard. Birds, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, and a wolf. Most animals didn't bother Billy, so long as they weren't trying to scare or attack him. He had even considered getting a miniature pet crocodile in recent years. But these weren't typical animals. They stared at him with their unnaturally stiff features and dead eyes. Billy swore that if he lived past this he'd never have anything taxidermy.

With their way out blocked, Billy and Spencer ran along the side of the porch towards the back of the cabin to where the fence lined the property. He'd jump over the damn thing with the kid on his back if he had to. But there was a hole in the fence and he made a b-line for it. It was a small gap at the bottom where iron bars had broken and he pushed Spencer through first. He managed to squeeze his upper body through the tight gap when something pulled him back. Billy didn't look back, he didn't want to know what was trying to drag him back to that Hell. He grabbed one of the iron bars, pulled himself forward, wiggling, and kicking until he was on the other side of the fence. Whatever had grabbed him finally let go. He grabbed Spencer's hand and they ran into the woods.

This definitely wasn't the way back to the house but at the moment Billy didn't think about where he was going as long as it was away from the monsters. He ran and ran and ran, making sure Spencer was still with him, lifting him over obstacles if he had to. The deeper into the woods they got the steeper the slopes around them became and the more rocks there were. The rain beating down on them made it slippery and they tripped more than once. Billy didn't even care that he was completely soaked or that his boots squished with water and mud. Branches and bushes smacked him, tearing at his clothes and exposed skin but he still didn't stop. He swore he could still hear footsteps and the creaking of artificial joints behind them.

Finally, they found a narrow deer path along a steep slope and Billy followed it. He glanced over at Spencer again to make sure he was ok, his hand still wrapped tightly around the kids. For the split second that he was looking at the kid, his mind assured him Spence was alright. Then his foot caught on something. His stomach lurched as he fell down the embankment. The ground and sky flipped around and around in a kaleidoscope of colors. His body flipped and fumbled so fast along with it his mind barely had time to register which parts of him were painfully hitting the ground and when. He hit the ground one last time, at least in his conscious mind, as his head smacked against something. His vision to flash a blinding white before the world around him went dark.


	9. Fear is a powerful motivator

_A guitar played softly in the distance. The same repeating gentle melody. He couldn't quite place where he'd heard it before or who played it but it was warm and Billy felt warm too. It was familiar and safe. He listened to the music and soaked in the warmth. Bliss._

Pat. Pat. Pat.

_Billy flinched from whatever was trying to disturb him. He wanted to listen to the song. The melody was very familiar and he could almost recall where he'd heard it before. He could almost see the face of the guitar player, it was almost clear. So familiar. If he could concentrate a little harder…_

Pat. Pat. Pat.

_That was starting to get irritating. The interfering noise was growing louder by the second, distracting him. It was all around him, drowning out the beautiful music and sucking away the warmth. He could even somehow feel it on his face and through his clothes. How a noise could be felt he didn't know but it was making him cold. Another noise started to accompany the patting._

Pat Pat Pat.

Billy Billy Billy.

_Fans calling his name was usually something he enjoyed but right now it was distracting. He grunted at the irritations, willing them to go away. They didn't. They got louder, pounded on him harder. He tried to listen to the music again but it was getting further and further away until it was almost gone. The warmth faded into a bone-chilling cold that made him shiver. The familiar face faded from his mind and once again he was left in the dark as to the identity of the guitarist. He reached through the void, trying to get them back. Billy longed for the music and the warmth. The patting became tiny icy bullets that hit his skin and beat the floor around him like drums. The chanting grew louder and louder. Static joined in. A deafening drone of noise and cold. Hands grabbed him, pulling him into darkness, towards glowing eyes-_

"BILLY!"

Billy jolted. Panic tore through as if he was falling, falling into darkness, and he reached out for something to grab onto. It took a moment to realize he was lying down. He trembled and panted as he struggled to regain his bearings. Everything was wet and cold, including him. Something was stuck to the side of his face and it was so dark he could see no more than a foot or two ahead of him. Rain pounded the ground and crickets and frogs sang all around him.

Where was he and what had he been doing to end up here? Why was he soaking wet? Whichever one of his bodyguards had left him here was so fired-

"Billy!" someone shouted and he felt them latch onto him.

He remembered. _Dolls, mannequins, animals. Gabbing, snapping, biting. Two huge orbs glowering at him with malice from the dark._

Billy panicked and pushed whatever it was off of him. He backpedaled until he hit something which made his head exploded in a wave of pain. He hissed and grabbed his head, "Ow, ow, ow, ow!"

But he knew whatever had grabbed him was still there and he looked up. There were no dolls or mannequins grabbing at him, no stuffed animals with dead eyes snapping their jaws at him. Just a little kid on the ground shivering and looking at him with big brown teary eyes.

"Spence! Oh, shi-Uh- Dude, I'm sorry! You scared me."

Spencer crawled over to Billy and wrapped his little arms around him.

"You ok, tater-tot? You hurt?" Billy asked as he patted the kids' back.

Spencer shook his head against Billy's chest all the while his little body shook with sobs.

"Hey, come on, BJC's not good with tears. What's wrong?"

Spencer shook his head again and his grip tightened. Billy went quiet and thought for a moment as he started to recall how they ended up here. He remembered the dolls, the mannequins, the taxidermy animals, and that terrifying thing - a ghost - with glowing eyes that attacked them. They were real. Monsters were real. "You scared?"

Spence nodded, "You didn't wake up! I was scared you wouldn't come back like you said!"

Billy blinked, his mind still fuzzy and muddled, "What?"

"About being ghosted but not coming back! You didn't wake up or become a ghost or a zombie. I thought you weren't coming back like you said, not ever!" Spencer sobbed as fat tears rolled down his cheeks. Or maybe it was rain. Either way, the kid was clearly distressed.

_Oh...shit,_ Billy smacked himself in the face. He could almost hear his mom scolding him, telling him that his actions and words have consequences. He ruffled the kid's hair, "Hey, it's ok now, right? I'm still here, BJC's not gonna die."

"But what if you did? You'd be gone forever like you said!" He bawled into Billy's chest.

Billy's face crumbled and he wrapped his arms around him. He didn't mean to scare the kid, "Spence?"

Spencer continued to sob into his chest.

"Spence, listen…"

The kid only responded with broken sobs. Billy waited a few minutes before putting his hands on his shoulders and gently nudging him off enough so he could look him in the eye. "Listen, tater-tot," Billy waited until the kid nodded to make sure he had his attention, "don't worry about what I said before, ok? Besides, you were right about the ghost thing."

"But you said your dad-"

Billy cut him off, "Let's not talk about that. It's not gonna happen to me. This face is too good looking to rot anytime soon. We're ok now, right? Everything's gonna be ok."

Spencer sniffed and buried his face in Billy's shirt again. Billy patted the kids' head as he looked around. It was dark. Really dark. Like nighttime dark instead of stormy weather dark. As his eyes adjusted to the light he could see that they were still in the woods at the bottom of a steep incline by a creek. It was raining and they were both soaked to the bone. Wet leaves and mud clung to their clothes and skin and Billy pulled a wet leaf off of his face. A week ago he would have thrown a tantrum about being soaking wet, stuck in the woods, and filthy. However, given that they had barely escaped with their lives from a ghost and a terrified child was clinging to him he couldn't find the effort to throw a tantrum. He was responsible for the kid right now since he couldn't pass him off to his parents or an adult like he would have a week ago. They were alone in the middle of the woods.

"Hey, how long have I been out?"

Spencer pulled back and rubbed at his eyes. He sniffed, "Long time."

"You've been here the whole time? Why didn't you go home?"

"I could still hear them," he whispered and looked back up the incline.

Billy followed his gaze but focused on listening. The rain, thunder, and critter noises drowned out most of anything else but in the distance, he could make out creaking. The same creaking he'd heard coming from the limbs of the mannequins and taxidermy. Billy shivered but not from the cold.

"We can't stay here," Billy whispered as he pushed himself to his feet. His vision spun and he steadied himself against a tree. His head hurt like hell and he was nauseous but they had to get back to the house, to safety. Billy held Spencer's hand to make sure the kid was right next to him as they started walking.

It occurred to Billy that he had no idea where he was and he had to rely on Spencer. He hoped the kid recognized the area enough to get them out of the woods. Spencer told Billy how he sometimes plays in the creek during the summer to fish for tadpoles and crayfish. But the kid couldn't be sure where the path in the woods was which he typically used to get to the creek. The pair followed the creek downstream in the opposite direction of the cabin in hopes it would lead out of the woods or somewhere recognizable.

As they walked Billy continued to glance behind them, watching and listening for any pursuers. When he felt Spencers' hand tighten around his he glanced down at the kid. Spencer kept glancing behind them too. The kid was just as scared as he was. Billy needed to keep him focused and unafraid. He decided to try something he hadn't thought of in years.

"Hey...you know what I used to do when I was scared as a kid?"

Spence blinked up at him.

"I'd sing this song my dad taught me when I was your age. Wanna try it?"

Spencer frowned a moment but nodded.

"Ok here's how it starts,

Let's count down from three to one and make it fun.

_Three: we'll sing it out loud and we'll it sing proud,_

_Two: we're almost there so don't be scared,_

_One: Now we're done but we've only just begun-_

See? It's silly and you keep going and going and adding stuff that makes you happy. So the next verses are freestyle like this:

_Three: It makes my heart flutter when I eat smooth peanut butter_

_Two: When I sing and dance it puts you in a hypnotic trance_

_One: You'll be beguiled when I show off my awesome style!_

Now you try!"

Spencer pouted and glanced behind again, ignoring the song.

Billy frowned, "Uh, why don't I help you? Let's see…

_Three: This tater-tot loves spooky movies but is afraid of cooties!"_

Spencer glared up at him, "Am not!"

"Really? Cuz if you wanna stop me you're gonna have to sing!

_Two: Spency eats bugs and chugs juice made of slugs-"_

Spencer grumbled and playfully shoved him. Billy laughed and stumbled into a tree but hissed when his head throbbed and his vision spun from the sudden movement. He steadied himself against the tree, waiting for the dizziness to pass.

He heard Spencer gasp and felt a tug on his pant leg, "I'm sorry!"

"D-Don't worry, I'm ok, I'm ok. Just need a sec, lil' brosephs..." Billy waved him off.

There was a loud caw followed by the rustle of leaves and the beat of something behind them. Both boys spun around right as several crows took off into the sky from the trees. The forest was dead silent for a moment except for the thunder and rain. The one by one the remaining critters started to chime back in.

Billy swallowed. They didn't have a 'sec', "Ok, let's keep moving." He grabbed Spencers' hand again and kept walking. He used his free hand to steady himself against the passing trees. "You gonna sing or make me do all the work?"

Spencer glanced around the woods repeatedly before looking up at him, _"T-Three:..I-I like spooky movies and-and-"_

Billy bit his lip as the kid looked like he needed help, "And...cartoons that are looney?"

Spencer looked up at him with a small smile and nodded.

"Good, keep on that."

_"Two:...I like to play with monster masks all day…"_

"There, see, you got it! Now don't forget about your bro-mazing cousin."

Spencer giggled, _"One: I like when Billy plays with me and he sings off key!"_

"Hey! I don't sing off key you little flea!"

Spencer laughed and continued on the next verse. Billy sighed in short-lived relief before looking back again and making sure Spencer didn't. With the kid's mind taken off of the looming danger behind them, Spencer focused on finding the way out. Billy kept watch and listened for anything that may be following while trying to keep the kid preoccupied.

It was an hour later by the time they exited the woods and located a road that Spencer recognized well enough to take them home. The rain was starting to let up but Billy felt no less miserable. He was soaked, cold, his head throbbed, and he could feel the bloom of bruises and sting of scrapes all over. Spencer still sang quietly, sounding utterly exhausted. Sometimes he only hummed or muttered under his breath. Billy focused on walking, keeping his eyes fixed on his footing and straining his ears for any sounds indicating they were being followed. So far there were none.

When they finally approached the house Billy noticed the house lights were all on. He was sure they hadn't been when they left. _Crap_. The Wrights and his mother got home before they did. They were in for a world of trouble. Yet, then again if the adults here home it meant they were going to be safe. The adults would know how to handle those monsters, Billy was sure of it.

The kids walked into the house through the back door and into the kitchen. Loud, frantic voices filtered in through from the living room until the door slammed shut behind them. After a beat of silence footsteps thundered towards them and the three adults came running into the room.

"Boys!" Hugh said.

Billy's mother sighed, "THERE you are!"

"We were worried sick! Where have you-" Janes' voice trailed off as her eyes swept over them, "Are you alright? What happened?" her tone of voice switched from an annoyed parent to a concerned mother like a light switch.

Billy winced, knowing they must look awful and filthy, "I-uh…"

"We were attacked by a ghost and monsters!" Spencer shouted.

Billy nodded. He unconsciously rubbed the spot on his head where he had hit it and winced when it hurt. Jane was in front of them instantly. Her hands swept over both boys as she inspected the cuts and bruises they'd acquired. Spencer didn't look as bad as Billy did in terms of injuries. Jane gently brushed Billy's hair back and examined the spot that hurt.

"You've got quite a nasty bump," she said.

"What happened?" Billy's mother asked, her voice laced with concern. He only now noticed her standing next to Jane.

"I fell. Got knocked out…"

Both mother's faces erupted into shock, glancing at each other before they looked back at the boys. Billy found himself guided to one of the chairs and made to sit down. He wasn't sure which one of them did it but a moment later something cold was placed against his head where the bump was. He brought up his hand to hold it there and his mom sat beside him.

"What happened?" She repeated, softer this time. Her face etched with worry the same way Janes' was.

That's new, he thought. Billy's mouth worked but for once nothing came out. There was a lump in his throat he couldn't seem to get past. Now that they were home he knew he should feel safe but the reality of what happened crept in. No longer distracted by having to keep a child distracted and safe he thought back on the nights' events and fear was setting in. He was shaking.

"I said we were attacked by monsters! We were! Billy fought them off!" Spencer shouted again. Jane shushed him.

Billy nodded as he finally swallowed past the lump, "He-He's right. We were attacked by a ghost or something and dolls, mannequins, and animals-dead ones. Ya know, like stuffed ones."

All three adults looked at one another with confusion. Billy could see that they didn't believe him.

"It's true!" He insisted, "And they're still out there so we need to do something! Call the cops or military or whoever can take care of those things!"

"Yeah!" Spence agreed.

"Hun," Jane placed a hand on his shoulder, "I know you two like to go out and play pretend. Are you sure you didn't dream that up?"

Billy blinked, "What?"

"When you fell and knocked yourself out you must have dreamt of whatever you two had been pretending. After all, there are no such things as monsters, dear."

"It was real!" Spencer cried, "It wasn't pretending!"

"Yeah, yeah it was real! How'd we get these bruises and scratches if it wasn't?"

"It looks like you got them from running around in the woods. You boys tend to be a little too rambunctious," his mom said.

"Are you sure it wasn't something else chasing you? Was it a person?" Hugh asked.

Billy was stunned. They really didn't believe him, "No! Those things definitely weren't human."

"Could have been coyotes or raccoons, we've got tons of those here. Maybe you disturbed a nest and riled them up."

"No! I mean there were those but a bear too and a wolf! But they were already dead when they attacked us!"

The adults shared another concerned look, obviously still not believing the boys.

"I'm not making this up, I swear! Those things could still be out there and come after us. Like real, actual monsters!" Billy yelled. Spencer nodded vigorously.

Billy's mother sighed with exasperation, "Why did you even go out there? You were told to stay here."

"We went to play and I was gonna write a new song when-" Billy froze. _Oh no. No, no, no,_ "My guitar. I left my guitar there! Oh, my-Fff- How could I be so stupid!?" his fingers threaded through his hair, not caring that he dropped the ice pack, and he flung his head down into the table with a thud. Ow.

The sudden motion made his stomach flip. His hands flew to his mouth as he retched. Billy stood, the chair clattering onto the floor as it fell, and he bolted for the downstairs bathroom. He made it to the toilet right as his stomach decided to empty what little contents there were. Embarrassing.

Several agonizing minutes later his stomach decided it was too empty to continue retching. He flushed the toilet and went to the sink to wash his face. Billy hated vomiting because you didn't just vomit, your eyes and nose ran too. At least his did. He always looked like an utter mess when he threw up and Billy didn't want to be seen like that, even if it was only by his family. On top of things, his throat was now raw and it burned meaning no singing for a while. He gargled several some water to alleviate the pain.

Looking up in the mirror he could tell the water didn't help much to save his looks. He looked as miserable as he felt. The faint bruise of his black eye still remained, new bruises bloomed on his face and arms along with cuts and scrapes from the fall. Twigs and leaves stuck out of unruly hair that had once upon a time been styled to perfection. His clothes were dripping wet, covered in mud, and torn in several places.

For a minute he just stared at his horrible trembling appearance. All of it was caused by some vengeful ghost and its' minions. Why didn't the adults believe them? Did they really think he'd make something like this up? Beat himself up for a story? They would need proof to convince the adults.

Billy shook his head from that thought. The danger was still out there. This wasn't a movie, they actually got hurt. They could actually die. His heart beat a little faster and he found it a little harder to breathe. Now that they were home his mind was working itself into panicked overdrive. He could almost see those eyes staring down at him, fake hands grabbing at him, the jaws of beasts snapping at him. And for a moment he did see something. Two great glowing eyes behind him.

Billy's head spun around so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. There was nothing there. Looking back in the mirror he saw the eyes were gone. His overstimulated mind was playing a trick on him. Billy splashed more water on his face before he pulled the twigs and leaves from his hair. He ran his wet fingers through it to comb back. At least it looked less like a birds nest.

As Billy walked out of the bathroom and into the living room his mother placed a towel around his shoulders. Jane, Hugh, and Spencer were absent from the room but Billy could hear the bath water running upstairs. He figured they must have taken the kid to clean him up.

"Maybe we should take you to the hospital and get you checked out. You might have a concussion," his mother suggested.

"NO!" No hospitals, they freaked him out almost as much as ghosts did but that was a story for another day. By the look on her face that wouldn't be a good enough excuse, "I mean-I'm fine! B-Besides going outside probably isn't a good idea right now. Those monsters could be out there waiting for us."

"Baruch, there are no such things as monsters."

Billy was too tired, too freaked out, and now too irritated to deal with arguing. "Figures you don't believe me," he fumed and stomped into the kitchen. He collapsed onto a chair again, grabbing the ice pack from the table and pressing it against the bump on his head.

Billy stared at the table, his mind going blank. He couldn't think, his nerves were frayed. What if the monsters followed them back here? They could attack at any moment. He didn't want to see those nasty things ever again for as long as he lived. Something touched his arm and he flinched away, expecting a mannequin or doll to be there. It was only his mother sitting next to him.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

He frowned, opening his mouth about to say 'I'm fine' on impulse but he stopped. He wasn't fine. At all. He shook his head. In fact, his entire body was shaking.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

His frown deepened and he shook his head again. He didn't want to talk about it since he could barely even think about it. She wouldn't believe him anyway. He didn't even realize his mother had stood up to do something until a glass of water appeared in front of him. He stared at it for a moment before grabbing it and downing the whole thing. Billy hadn't realized how thirsty he'd been.

"Baruch, I realize this week has been...different for you and quite difficult. I'm sure there's a logical explanation for what happened to you tonight-"

He shot her a glare.

She paused before laying a hand over his, "But there's no need to be afraid. You're safe now."

He stared at her for a beat. This was weird. Was this really his mother talking? The word 'safe' struck something within him and he kept quiet for fear his voice would crack.

"It's true I had hoped this little vacation would clear up some things, but I see now that with the way things have gone I did not approach it well. You seem more troubled than before and I feel like our little talks may have contributed to the stress you're feeling now."

Billy recoiled a little. This is not at all what he was expecting. It was almost too much to take in after what happened. What was going on today? Did he fall into an alternate dimension or something? He shook his head, "What's with the sudden change of heart?"

She sighed and glanced into the living room as Jane and Spencer were coming downstairs. The kid was dry and in new clothes but Billy was relieved to see very few visible bruises or scrapes on him. At least one of them was better off.

"Jane and I had a little talk while we were out today and she expressed some concerns over our recent arguments. She told me how upset you had gotten and how it was putting extra stress on you. I think it may have something to do with this little breakdown you're having."

A breakdown? She thought he was having a breakdown? That he made up the story of the ghost and the monsters because of a breakdown? Or that he was going crazy? Billy glared and opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off.

"Jane also helped me understand some things about your...choices. Kind of. Furthermore, she insisted we have a proper honest talk when we get home. I'll make an effort to...try...to understand your reasons for doing things the way you do. It also got me thinking that you were right-"

Billy smirked.

She quirked an eyebrow, "Don't get a big head over this like I know you will. But you were right in that I shouldn't have kept the things about your father a secret. So when we leave here and I will tell you about your father."

Something warmed started to bloom in his chest that could almost make his current fears disappear-

"If-"

Never-mind, it was gone.

"You take a deep breath, take a moment to think back and go over everything that happened today. No more lies, no more overdramatic stories - this isn't one of your shows - just the plain, honest truth. What you were doing today, where you'd gone, and what happened. With a clear head, I'm sure we can figure out what actually happened."

Billy heard a huff and he looked over to see Jane and Spencer hovering in the doorway. Spencer was looking up at him with his big brown eyes full of expectation. The back door creaked open and Billy jumped so violently he almost fell out of the chair.

"Good news is the storm is letting up!" came Hugh's voice as he stepped into the kitchen from the back door draped in a raincoat and holding a flashlight. "Well, I didn't see anything out there so whatever you said came after you boys must have gotten scared off."

Billy blinked. He had been in such a trance that hadn't realized Hugh even left the house. He must have been patrolling around the house while Billy was being reacquainted with the porcelain throne. If he'd known he would have insisted the man stay inside.

"There were monsters! There were!" Spencer insisted, "We have to go back! We need to get Billy's guitar and the treasure chest!"

Billy bawled at the kid. Go back? Was he serious? Billy shook his head, "No, no way. It's too dangerous, Spence!"

"But we have to! We can show them the monsters too and they'll know we're telling the truth! Monsters and ghosts are real, I always knew they were real and now they can see too!" the slight excitement in the kids' voice and his smile made Billy uneasy. This wasn't something to be excited about. This wasn't a movie and the kid didn't seem to grasp the full danger of the situation.

Billy continued shaking his head slowly. There was no way he was ever going back there and sure he could hold the kid back now but what about when he left? Spencer could go there after he leaves and Billy dread to think what could happen then. He was really starting to panic.

Hugh said there's nothing outside so perhaps they weren't followed after all. Billy frowned at the table. That was a good thing but he also had no proof of what they'd encountered. Without that the adults weren't going to believe in the danger. But he couldn't go back there. He wouldn't.

The longer he dwelled on what happened the more far fetched it sounded, even to him and he'd lived it. A ghost? Dolls, mannequins, and taxidermy coming to life? A week ago these kinds of things only existed in movies. No wonder the adults didn't believe them. If two kids had said the same thing to him a week ago he wouldn't believe them either. Their story sounded crazy. He sounded crazy. Hell, he felt like he was going crazy. It was all too much at once. What was going to happen if he told the truth? Nothing good. At least not in his mind.

Another fear crept into his mind as he glanced at his mother and Jane. If he told the truth, regardless if they believed him or not, would his mother go back on her word to talk to him? Not just about his father but for once maybe they could clear the air and it was all thanks to Jane. She had helped them take a big step towards reconciliation and he didn't want to lose that. If he were honest he'd admit that he wanted a better relationship with his mother. Especially after seeing how the Wrights interacted as a real family. If he told them what really happened would his mother write him off as irresponsible for not 'telling the truth' even though he was? It could ruin the chance to fix their relationship and learn about his father.

Everything was happening way too fast and he had a choice to make right now. Even if they were fortunate enough to have lost the monsters Billy still had to be sure no one went to the cabin ever again with a believable reason. Especially Spencer. When Billy was gone Spencers' parents would have to make sure the kid doesn't go back there. The adults would never believe a story about ghosts and monsters, he was sure of that now. But he still needed to warn them about the danger. They needed to be told something they would believe. A realistic danger. If it was something they believed in they would be compelled to ensure Spencer doesn't go there. If he told the truth and they wrote it off as Billy was having some kind of episode they might not keep as close of an eye on Spencer when Billy left. Billy decided that he had to lie.

Billy took a deep breath, thinking back and trying to put his thoughts in order, "We'd gone out to play at a fort we made by the old cabin in the woods."

"Old cabin? What old cabin?" Hugh asked.

Billy swallowed, "There's this old cabin in the woods down the old dirt road with piles of junk everywhere. We'd made a fort and played there a couple of times so it seemed like a chill place at first. But we went there again today, it was only supposed to be for a little while and I planned on us being back before it stormed, I swear. But we went to explore the cabin and were attacked by-" he glanced at Spencer for a moment, "Something…"

"They were monsters and a ghost! Billy, tell them it's true!" Spencer shouted.

Billy winced. He needed to come up with something else to say and fast.

His mother raised an eyebrow, "Did you actually see what attacked you? Did you get a clear look at what it was?"

Yes, he almost said. He desperately wanted to say yes but he couldn't risk it. There was too much at stake in his mind. He was too afraid, too overwhelmed. It was hard to breathe and his chest felt too tight but he steeled himself, "No. It-it was dark. I don't know what I saw exactly, but eyes shined back at me from the flashlight and they came towards us. So it probably was a couple of animals as you said. We got scared and ran into the woods. I fell and got knocked out."

Spencer's face fell, "Billy, tell them about the dolls and the ghost! It was real, you saw them! You fought them!"

"I-I...I don't...know what I saw. When I conked myself out I must have imagined the animals as monsters..."

"See? You just got scared and worked yourselves up, that's all," his mother said. Her voice was uncharacteristically gentle but the look of betrayal on Spencer's face didn't make him feel good about it.

"It's a good thing you told us, sport!" Hugh said while patting him on the back, "Now I don't want you two going there anymore. That goes double for you, young man," he said while pointing at Spencer, "That places doesn't sound safe for kids!"

Spencers' eyes became glassy, "But-but- the guitar! The song! And our treasure chest!"

"If you left something there I suppose I could go with Billy tomorrow morning to get them. But after that the place is off limits," Hugh said.

Billy froze. He wanted his guitar back, more than anything. It was his most treasured instrument after all. But could he face going back there with those things still lurking? They MIGHT be able to sneak into the fort, grab it, and run but it was a huge risk. The shoebox was a lost cause either way. He didn't know what to do. The thought of encountering those things again with their grabby hands and glassy dead eyes made him want to run away to the far side of the planet.

Billy shook his head, "It's not really safe there, ya know? Those animals...now that I think about it they seemed rabid. Foaming at the mouth and stuff. Guess that's why I thought they were monsters. It-it might be best to forget about that place and the stuff."

"Oh dear, you're right. Animals are one thing, but rabid animals are another! But are you sure you want to leave your things there?" Hugh asked.

"Billy, what about the guitar for the song and our treasure chest? You said they were important!" Spencer whined.

Billy could see the tears starting to bead at the edges of Spencer's eyes so he looked away. There was too much to risk and he couldn't look the kid in the face right now. Billy swallowed past the lump in his throat. He wanted that guitar back, wanted the shoebox to give to the kid to make things better, but Billy was petrified of going back there. He could tell the Hugh-man where the cabin was so he'd make sure Spencer never went there too. Billy looked at Hugh, "Their not important. We can forget about them."

"If you're sure, sonny. I'm sorry, Spencer, but Billy's right. That place sounds too dangerous for kids like you to be hanging around. I can't allow you to go there," Hugh said.

Billy heard a small hiccup from the kid. He glanced over to see the teary kid glaring at him.

"You're a liar and a big meanie like the others! I hate you!" the child shouted and ran off. Jane followed after him.

Ouch. That hurt worse than his throbbing head. Worse than the realization that he needed to abandon his prized guitar. Billy's eyes stung and he screwed them shut.

Hugh put a hand on his shoulder, "I know that must have been tough but you're doing the right thing, kiddo. We'll talk about where that cabin is in the morning."

Billy nodded. It didn't feel like the right thing. His mind was blank but his emotions threatened to overwhelm him, "Can I go get cleaned up now?"

"Of course," his mother said.

Billy jumped up from his seat and wasted no time in running upstairs. He nabbed some clothes from one of his spare suitcases in the hall and locked himself in the upstairs bathroom. He could faintly hear Spencer crying in his room with Jane trying to console him. Billy didn't want to listen so he turned on the bathwater. He shed his sopping wet filthy clothes and made sure the water was hot and bubbly before he slipped in.

The heat sank into his tense muscles and helped him relax. Now all he needed was some music to distract him. Without that, his mind soon began to wander. He plunged his head underwater.

A week ago things had been so different. He had been different. A week ago he'd laugh out loud if someone told him there was a possibility of him and his mother reconciling. A week ago he was blissfully ignorant of his father's life before he died and probably would have remained so had he not come here. A week ago he would never ever care about what some little kid thought of him let alone become friends with one. A week ago he would never have gone out into the woods, nature of all places, to build a fort with the kid and play childish games unbecoming of a teenager. A week ago ghosts and monsters didn't exist. A week ago his primary concerns were girls, big yachts, and money. A week ago he was happy with the person he was, even if he wasn't as great of a person that he always claimed to be.

He resurfaced and sucked in a deep breath. Then he punched the bathtub wall. Not hard enough to leave a mark but hard enough to vent some of his pent up emotions. Part of him wished this whole week never happened. He sank deeper into the bath, resting his head on the back of the tub, and closing his eyes.

Billy dozed, for how long he didn't know. Each time he drifted too far into sleep images of the ghost and monsters would flash in his mind, scaring him awake. He longed for the melody of the guitar he dreamed of earlier but he could scarcely remember it anymore. It was fading from his mind and monsters dominated his dreams. He sighed and threw water on his face to wake himself up. No sleeping tonight.

Billy had been in the water long enough for it to grow lukewarm. He grumbled and conceded to getting out, drying off, and getting dressed. Having anticipated not sleeping he hadn't bothered to grab pajamas before. Instead, he opted for jeans, an orange shirt, a green vest, and socks. As he exited the bathroom he noticed the kids' room was dark. Spencer must have cried himself to sleep already. Billy felt ashamed and he couldn't bear to face him right now.

He trudged downstairs in search of food. With his existential crisis on a temporary hold, his stomach decided to remind him that he hadn't eaten since breakfast. Vomiting certainly hadn't helped. His stomach muscles ached and his throat hurt but he grabbed some leftovers from the fridge anyway. He didn't even care what they were as he heated them up and plopped down at the table to eat. Billy could hear his mother and Hugh talking in the living room but he didn't care what it was about right now. Jane walked in when he was halfway through his meal and sat next to him.

"Thank you for telling us what happened and where you boys went today. We can make sure Spencer doesn't go there in the future, at least not by himself."

Billy nodded. That's exactly what he wanted, "Not going there at all is better. I know now that place isn't safe…" He poked at a piece of broccoli and stuffed it in his mouth. He mused briefly on the thought that he was willingly eating vegetables. What had his world come to in a mere week?

Jane smiled a little sadly and nodded. They were both quiet for a beat.

"Uh, thanks for talking to my mom."

Jane brightened, "So she's already talked to you? I hoped she would. I noticed how upset you were after your last fight so I tried to convince her to put herself in your shoes."

Billy shrugged, "It helped. We're going to talk about a lot of stuff when we leave. Hopefully, it goes well."

"I hope so too," She patted his hand with hers, "But your cousins are always here for you if you need us. Or if you just need someone to talk to."

Billy appreciated that more than she'd know, "How's Spence?"

She frowned and let out a sigh, "Don't worry, he'll come around. Kids tend to have overactive imaginations and I think he's just been excited to have a friend to play with. But it was very mature of you to drop the act when things become serious. I'm proud of you for that."

Billy wanted to slam his head against the table again if it wouldn't likely cause him to vomit. If only she knew the real truth. She would be disappointed in him for betraying Spencer, "He probably won't come around before I have to leave…"

"Well he'll have time to cool off and maybe things will be better next time you two see each other."

Billy frowned, "Yeah...next time." If there ever was a next time.

Thoughts of months-long tours, recording sessions, merchandising meetings, movie cameos, modeling gigs, and all the other things associated with being a pop-star flooded his head. It never occurred to him how busy he always was because he hadn't minded it before. It had been his entire life. His mother must have pulled teeth to get them this week off. If Billy new his managers as well as he thought he did he suspected it would be a long, long time before they gave him so much time off again. Billy felt the urge to throw a tantrum at the prospect of all the stuff he'd have to do when he got back home.

"I'm going to check on Spencer again. You finish eating and get some rest, ok?" She patted his hand before heading back upstairs.

Billy said nothing but nodded. How was he going to make it up to the kid? He knew Spencer wouldn't get over it so easily. After all the confidence-boosting Billy had tried to instill on him and convincing the kid that he wasn't weird for liking horror Billy had let him down in the end. He supposed he could talk to Spencer and try to explain why he lied to the adults. Though he doubted the kid would understand. But what about the song? Billy could still write it and record it. He didn't need his guitar for that bit. Maybe the kid wouldn't be as mad at him if he finished the song and sent it to him. Then he had a lightbulb moment. Something he knew would cheer the kid up.

He jumped up from the table and ran into the living room, "Hughster! Did you fix that camera I gave you?"

Hugh stopped his conversation with his mom mid-way. She gave him a look and Billy felt partially guilty for once.

"Not yet, sonny. But don't you worry, the Hugh-man is no quitter!"

Billy forced a chuckle, "Right…"

Well, there goes that idea. Billy considered taking it home with him to a professional to be fixed. Or he could just buy the kid a new one. That was probably better than giving him a potentially haunted camera. Come to think of it he should dump the thing now and hope for the best.

Thundering footsteps from the stairs caught the attention of the three in the living room.

"He's gone!" Jane cried as she ran down the last few steps.

Hugh stood up from the couch, "What?"

"I went to check on Spencer and he's not in the room or any room upstairs!"

Billy's stomach plummeted. The adults immediately started checking everywhere downstairs. Billy didn't bother joining them, somehow knowing the kid wasn't downstairs. He jumped up the stairs two at a time and burst into the kids' room. He laid flat on his stomach on the floor to look under Spencer's bed but the kid wasn't hiding under there like before. When he sat up he saw something that sent a new wave of horror through him. The window was propped partially open with a toy building block. _Shit_.

Billy threw the window open and looked out to see if the kid was on the awning as they had done before but it was empty. He looked out towards the woods. The rain had let up a bit and he could still see lightning in the distance as the storm moved away. He knew where Spencer went.

Billy didn't think as he flew out of the room and down the stairs. He slipped on his wet shoes, bolted through the living room, through the kitchen and he threw open the back door.

"Baruch! Where are you going?!" He heard his mother call.

"I know where Spence is, I'm going to get him!" He shouted as he ran down the porch steps and flew around the playhouse into the woods. He heard his mom calling him and the shouts of the Wrights but he ignored them. Billy ran as fast as he could.


	10. But Love is stronger

Rain, mud, and his aching muscles be damned, the whole Earth would move out of his way if he wanted it to. Billy didn't think, didn't once stop. The shouts of the adults faded a while back as he sprinted down the muddy road. Mud kicked up from his boots, once again dirtying his clothes but it didn't stop him. He didn't even notice. Nearly missing the turn into the driveway he slid along the muddy road before bouncing up and bolting for the gate. The intimidating iron bars vibrated with malice energy, telling him to keep out but he ignored them. He ripped off the loose bars without hesitation. The thought that the monsters could be in the junkyard didn't even pass through his head as he tore his way around stacks of tires, engines, crates, bumpers, grills, lawn furniture, and more junk.

"Spencer?!" He called as he barreled through the tarp entrance to the fort. Spencer's toys, their masks, costumes, and his bag sat silently around the small enclosure. All untouched except for the rain. "SPENCER?!" he shouted again as loud as he could and waited. Still no response. Only his ragged breath and the pattering of rain. Spencer wasn't there.

Then as the moon peeked out from a slight break in the clouds a glint of light caught his eye. Billy jolted as he anticipated an attack. For a split second, he realized the absolute stupidity of his decision to run into the heart of danger without help. He was alone. Helpless against a horde of monsters created by some supernatural being, all of which could tear him apart at the seams. Billy had no course of action, no plan of attack or defense, just the blind drive to prevent the kid from doing something stupid. Yet, in return, he did something equally as stupid and now he would probably die.

But the glint of light wasn't from a monster. Propped up on the stage sat his precious guitar, glittering in the moonlight. The little awning it sat under had protected it from the storm. Billy stared in awe at it, elated that it was undamaged. If the damp air didn't cause the wood to swell he bet he could still play it. A thought seeped into his mind as he stared. He could take it and leave, pretend to forget about this place and go home. Leave all this trouble to be someone else's problem and he could go back to how his life was a week ago. A week before all this shit happened. His lawyers could get him out of any legal issu-

Billy shook his head and shivered at himself. Could he really leave his little cousin here to the mercy of those things? That was if something hadn't happened to him already. That thought made his eyes sting and his throat tightened and he felt ashamed that he even considered it. But Billy wasn't sure he could face the monsters all by himself. He was too scared. He could check the entire junkyard with a fine-toothed comb in case Spencer was wandering around somewhere. But something inside of him told him that it would be a colossal waste of time. That same something told him he already knew where the kid was and it made his stomach sink. He did not want to go there but what choice did he have? He could wait for the adults, or go back and get them. But what if Spencer was in trouble and wouldn't last that long? And if Billy was this scared then how scared would the kid be? He took a deep breath and grabbed his bag, hung it on his shoulder, grabbed the guitar slung and it over his back. His heart pounded as he walked out of the fort.

Billy was careful when he rounded each pile of junk in the yard, terrified something would jump out at him the next turn he took. The feeling that something was creeping up on him made his skin crawl and he constantly looked over his shoulder. Yet each time he found himself alone.

As Billy approached the cabin he ducked behind a pile of car bumpers and looked around. There were no dolls, mannequins, or taxidermy animals outside the cabin but he could see lights flashing from inside through the windows. He could hear weird noises coming from within. Voices like styrofoam rubbing together, guttural growls, static, and eerie childish laughter that he knew didn't belong to Spencer.

Billy fell to his knees and tried to even out his breathing. His heart felt like it was beating out of his chest. He wanted to turn back, to go back to the house and never see this place ever again. Heck, he didn't even know if Spencer really was in there. Maybe he wasn't. Maybe he was still out in the junkyard somewhere or heading home and Billy just missed him. Billy looked over his shoulder and thought about checking the junkyard again.

Then noises all stopped. Not even any insects or animals in the woods around them made a peep. Billy froze. For a beat, there was only a deafening silence. Then he heard the drawn-out groan of the rusted hinges from the front door. Paralyzed with fear and he sat there for what felt like an hour. Part of his mind told him to run. That something was coming for him. He waited. Still, he was alone. Nothing came. Slowly, he peeked up over the bumpers to the door. It was open a crack yet nothing could be seen inside. Just darkness.

"Billy?" came a small voice from inside.

"Spencer?!"

The door opened a little more and shown the lone figure of Spencer standing just inside the doorway against the darkness. The kid didn't move as he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt.

"Spence!" Billy shot up and ran to the cabin. He bounded up the steps in one giant leap and right as he reached the door it slammed in his face. Literally. He reeled back holding his nose as his eyes watered, "OOWW! What the f-"

"WHErE iS It?!" the same booming disembodied voice from before.

Billy was now more pissed than scared. His hand came back with blood on it and he swore that if his nose was broken he'd pay to have this whole property demolished from the ground up.

"Give me back my cousin!" he yelled as he pounded on the door.

"WHERE IS IT?!"

"Listen to me, you creep! If anything happens to the kid I'll rip you to shreds, you hear?! Don't you touch him!" If Billy took a moment to be impressed with the bravado of his own voice despite his trembling legs.

"GIVE IT BACK!"

Billy didn't have time for this. He lunged forward with all his strength and rammed the door with his shoulder. The hinges screeched and the wood bounced back at him but the door didn't open. Inside the cabin erupted in noise and light. Billy ignored it and rammed the door again. Same result.

Billy glared at the door and rubbed his aching shoulder. This was taking too long and he knew he wasn't going to be able to get it open. Billy looked around for a tool or something to use. He spotted an empty oil drum sitting under a partially boarded up window and he smirked. He picked up the drum and threw it at the window to smash away the remaining glass. As it shattered the house went quiet again. Billy hesitated before he cautiously climbed through the small opening in the window, hissed as a shard of glass cut his arm. Once he was inside and he got a proper look he almost jumped right back out the window.

The mannequins, dolls, and taxidermy animals were still there, staring right at him. The lights from the television screens made their eyes shine an array of colors at him. Billy froze up against the wall, his heart beating so loud he was sure they could hear it. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the inevitable. But nothing came.

After a beat, he opened his eyes. They hadn't moved. Their eyes were fixated on him but the things remained in the same spots. He watched them for a while, careful not to make a move for fear of them attacking him. When they still did nothing he took an experimental step forward. They watched but didn't move. He took a few more steps. Same thing.

"Billy!"

"Spence?!" Billy perked up and looked around. He spotted Spencer standing in the doorway to the back room holding his little ZomBoy toy.

Billy darted forward, ignoring the monsters, crossing the room in seconds, and zipping into the backroom. He dropped to his knees and scooped the kid up into his arms, "Tater-tot, you scared the snot out of me! Are you ok?"

Spencer nodded but his face said otherwise.

"What are you doing here?"

He held out his toy, "I went to get your guitar but Zomboy was walking all by himself! It was sooooo cool and I followed him here!"

Billy gulped and stared at the toy. It was completely still now but having seen the dolls and mannequins move on their own he believed the kid. The ghost must have done something to their stuff. Before Billy could grab it and throw the thing off into the oblivion of junk Spencer pointed over Billy's shoulder. The door slammed shut behind him. Billy jumped and looked back. The swirling mass and glowing eyes hovered behind him, blocking their path to the door. One of its dark tendrils was holding the shoebox. Billy stood up and backed away, making sure to keep Spencer behind him.

"WhErE IS iT?" the thing demanded.

"Where's what?"

"The camera," Spencer whispered.

Billy balked. That stupid thing again? Of course...and he'd left it back at the house with Hugh. He had even been ready to throw it away. Though he vaguely remembered Spencer mentioning when they first escaped the ghost. At the time he had been so completely absorbed in his own problems that he'd forgotten what the kid told him. Part of him was appalled at the thought that such a little broken thing could be the source of this much havoc. They were cornered in a haunted cabin with a ghost and monsters and he'd forgotten to bring their ticket out of it. He should have listened to the kid more. Now they were screwed.

Billy looked up at the glowing orbs, "I-I uh, I don't have it. It-It-It's back at our house so why don't you just let us go and we'll bring it back and-"

"I DO NOT TRUST YOU, THIEF!"

Billy's legs were shaking so badly he swore he'd fall down any moment, "But I-How-How am I su-supposed to bring it back? Hey! How about I buy you a new one! A better one! Yeah, I mean yours wasn't working anyway and I can have my people mail it and-"

The ghost howled and the noise vibrated all around them. The glass figures on the shelves around the room rattled like thousands of tiny bells dinging. The only ones that remained unaffected were the menagerie display towards the back. Billy fell on his behind. When he felt the kid grab his arm he turned and threw his arms around the kid.

"I DO NOT WANT A NEW ONE! I WANT THE ONE YOU STOLE! It is precious! Contains...memories," As it said this it's grip on the box tightened and it glowed a little.

"But-but-but you can make ne-new ones. Wouldn't that be cool?" Every muscle in Billy's body shook as did his voice.

"NO!" it boomed. The whole house shook, glass figures on the shelves fell and smashed on the floor but once again the menagerie remained unharmed. Billy hunched over Spencer to shield him from any spraying shards.

"Ok, ok! I-I can go get it! We'll get the camera! So j-just let us go and-"

"DO NOT TRUST YOU!"

"Then what do you want us to do?!"

One of its tendrils pointed at him, "ThE ChiLd StaYS To EnSuRE yOU ReTuRN!"

Billy felt his entire body grow cold. That thing couldn't be serious. He wants the kid to stay? Billy shook his head as he stood and pushed Spencer behind him, "No, no way!"

"If HE DoES NoT STAY anD YoU GO tHEn I wiLL TAKE someThING PRECIOUS frOm YoU!" the ghosts' whole swirling body glowed as did the box it was holding.

Billy gulped and stepped back. He had nothing to defend them with and unconsciously his free hand grabbed his guitar strap. Wait. The guitar. It was precious to him but... He glanced down at Spencer who was clinging to his pant leg looking utterly frightened. Slowly, he took the guitar off his back, grabbing it by the neck, and holding it out, "Here! This is precious to me! Take it. If you don't trust us to get the camera then take this instead!"

The ghost stared at it and hovered a few inches closer. Billy mental praised himself for his sudden genius, "You-You...collect things, right? See, this is a custom guitar owned by the worlds' most famous pop star: Moi! So it's super important to me. Nothing else like it exists, so how's that for something precious? You'll take it right?"

The ghost tilted its head. Or what Billy assumed was its head among the swirling mass. Billy grinned. He'd won, he had saved them. The ghost jolted forward, it's eyes sweeping over the guitar. But the swift movement took Billy off guard and on instinct one hand flew down to push Spencer further behind him. The ghost noticed this and looked down at the kid. Uh oh...

The ghost floated backward and it laughed. It laughed and laughed and laughed in a gleeful way that was out of place for this situation. Billy's heart sank knowing he'd failed. He felt Spencer's arms tighten around his leg.

"TEMPTING. BuT ThAT Is Not What I MeANT. SoMeTHing...MORE."

Billy frowned. What did it mean by more? He looked at his guitar. It is precious to him but there is something more important to him right now. The kid had grown on Billy in this short week and there was no way Billy was leaving him here. He adjusted his hold on the guitar so it hovered over his shoulder like a bat, "We're leaving here together whether you like it or not!"

The ghost chuckled, "I'm a GHOST! You can't hurt me with such a simple thing."

Billy faltered. The ghost was right, Billy couldn't hurt it physically. But a flicker of light in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Reflections of light still danced off of the glass menagerie the same way the moon had glittered over his guitar back at the fort. Out of everything in this whole cabin, on the whole property, that display was the one thing untouched by time. Not a speck of dust or dirt touched a single piece and not a single piece was out of place. Even the ghosts own rumbling voice which shook the cabin and broke other objects didn't affect the menagerie. It was treasured. Precious. Just like Billy's guitar. But there was one big difference. He glanced down at Spencer who looked up at him. Billy smirked and nodded, a silent message to get ready to run and Spencer let go of his leg.

"I don't need to hurt you exactly. If anyone knows a thing or two about prizing objects too much it's me. But the difference between us is that I learned my lesson!" Billy threw the guitar at the menagerie.

The guitar hit the display, smashing the glass shelving, sending the little glass pieces flying. The figures erupted as they hit the floor and the room glittered as the light reflected off of the thousands of shards. The ghost let out a deafening wail and flew over to the wreckage. The noise stunned Billy for a moment as he covered his ears and shut his eyes. But as something tugged at his bag did he realize now was their chance.

He scooped the kid up into his arms and threw open the door. The dolls, mannequins, and taxidermy animals were still in the main room but they glowed with an eerie light and shook violently before they started to crumble. TVs, radios, and other electronics flashed multicolored lights, whirred and screeched with static. Billy ignored all of them as he ran right for the exit, leaping over objects and the ghosts' monsters. He kicked open the main door, jumped down the stairs, and darted into the junkyard. Billy wove through the maze of junk, knowing exactly where he was going and not even pausing at the fort. He jumped through the opening in the fence and he ran as fast as he could.

Billy ran and ran down the dirt road until his legs burned. When he couldn't run anymore he collapsed onto his knees and put Spencer down. It was still dark out but the storm had passed, the sky had cleared, and the moon shone brightly overhead.

"That...was the most...insane thing...I've ever done," he said as he struggled to catch his breath. Spencer walked to his side and grabbed the messenger bag that was still slung over his shoulder. The kid opened it and Billy saw the shoe box was inside.

"Wha-? How-I thought the ghost-...It had it! How did it get there?"

Spencer smiled, "He dropped it so I picked it up and put it in your bag!"

Ah, that was what Billy felt a tug on his bag earlier. Spencer opened the box went to put his Zomboy toy inside but Billy stopped him. He took his bag off and tossed it away from them.

"Whoa! Hang on there, lil' dude. The ghost did something freaky with our stuff. We gotta ditch it."

Spencer pouted at him and hugged his toy, "But it's our treasure box! You said so! Or were you lying again?"

Billy sighed. The echo of his mothers' voice rang through his head telling him his words and actions have consequences. Spencer was proving to be an example of all his consequences at once tonight. Billy plopped down on a nearby log and as he leaned back and looked up he was struck by the sea of stars. Thousands of tiny dots of light in the deep blue and purple sky like nothing he'd seen before.

"Woow...don't get views like this in the city…"

Spencer sat next to him, "Why not?"

Billy shrugged but he thought he kind of got the idea. Like something he was told before by someone who was now just a memory, "Too much other stuff going on maybe? Kinda hard to see the real beautiful stuff out there when you got different kinds of lights blinding ya..."

Spencer frowned at him and looked confused. Billy sighed, it was time to set things straight, "Ok, kiddo, real talk. I'm sorry about earlier. For telling our parents about the cabin and the fort. But that place is haunted and super dangerous. We can't go there anymore."

Spencer frowned, "Why not? And why did you lie about the monsters? I thought you said it was ok…"

"Yeah, I know, I know, and it still is ok that you like scary movies and stuff. But these were REAL monsters, Spence. Not like your stories or movies. These ones could have actually hurt us. KILLED us. The ones you see in movies aren't real and can't hurt us. Or at least they weren't real until now...I didn't believe in them until we saw a literal ghost and it's creepy minions. But most people don't believe in monsters either, ESPECIALLY adults. They would have never believed us, even if we're telling the truth. Well, that and…"

Spencer blinked at him, "What?"

Billy looked at his shoes and kicked at the mud on the ground. Stupid mud, now his boots were even more ruined, "My mom promised to tell me about my dad if I told them the truth. Or, rather, told them something they wanted to hear. Something they could believe was the truth, even though it wasn't. I know, it was stupid and selfish and I totally broke your trust. But I want to get to know my dad...and maybe talking about it with her can improve our relationship, ya know? We have a chance to be a real family for once. Like the one you got..."

"But you're our family too, right?"

Billy smiled down at him and ruffled his hair, "Yeah...yeah we are. Think you can forgive your cousin and not totally hate me?"

Spencer pouted and glared at the ground for a moment.

Billy rolled his eyes, "I DID just run through a storm and MUD of all things AND epically fight off a ghost and a bunch of monsters to save your little butt, didn't I?"

A small smile crossed Spencer's face, "Ok…"

Billy smirked, wrapping one arm around the kids' neck, putting him in a headlock, and giving him a noogie, "That didn't sound like forgiveness, Tater-tot!"

"Aahhh! Billy! Stooooop!"

"Not until ya say it!"

"Ok, ok! I forgive you!"

Billy laughed and let him go, "That's better."

Spencer glared softly at him as he fixed his hair but eventually, he smiled a little.

"Besides, it would totally suck if you still hate me when I leave tomorrow."

Spencer's face fell and he stared at the ground.

Billy frowned and he put a hand on the kids' shoulder, "I don't know when I'm gonna get to visit again, but I will come back. Promise. AND I'm still gonna make that song for you, ok?"

The kid looked up at him, "But you can't do it without your guitar."

Billy snorted, "Yes I can. It wasn't actually a magic guitar, kiddo. I mean it may have been an awesome guitar...expensive...almost as gorgeous as the great BJC-"

Spence groaned.

"Ok, ok. It was just a regular guitar. I have plenty more back home where that came from. All I need to do is write the lyrics, the sheet music and name it and we're good to go. No matter what, I'll still make it, ok?"

"Promise?"

"Yeah."

"And that we'll get to hang out again?"

Billy smirked with an idea he knew the kid would like. He grabbed the kids' hand and wrapped his pinky around Spencer's, "I promise."

Spencer blinked, "What's this?"

"Duh! Only the most sacred of promises ever! The Bro-Promise."

The kid gave him a skeptical look, "Looks girly."

"I'm super serious, lil' dude! Cuz if someone breaks the promise then the person who broke it has to cut their finger off!"

Spencer gasped, "Cool!"

"Learned about it on one of my tours from some fangirls. You know how serious BJC is about keeping his gorgeous looks! He needs five digits on each hand so I'm not gonna break my promises. I swear. We'll have an awesome new song to jam to and we'll hang out again someday."

Spencer's face lit up like the stars above. Billy's smile turned into a concerned frown as he looked at the shoebox again and Spencer's ZomBoy toy which the kid still held. He gently took the toy from Spencer and examined it, "Well it doesn't look possessed anymore…" he stared at the shoebox for a beat but nothing happened. Maybe the ghosts' effects wore off just like how the creatures inside the cabin began to disintegrate. Billy couldn't be sure but he knew he wouldn't be able to say no when he saw Spencer's puppy dog eyes pouting up at him.

Billy sighed, "Fine, we won't throw the stuff away."

"Yay!"

"BUT! If there's any indication that these things are still possessed they're getting tossed into your dad's makeshift incinerator thingy. Got it?"

Spencer nodded eagerly and Billy doubted he did but didn't press it. Spencer grabbed the toy back and ran around to play with it as he made zombie noises for the toy. Billy watched him for a bit before standing, "Come on, let's go home. Our parents are probably freaking out..."

"Kay!" Spencer started towards the house as Billy followed.

"We really gotta get to work on that song. It's gonna be aabbooouutt...the awesome time we had playing and fighting monsters! What do ya wanna call it?"

Spencer pumped his little fists into the air, "Best Day Ever!"

Billy grinned, "Hey, not bad. I kinda like it. Alright, Best Day Ever it is."

Spencer cheered. Billy started singing, trying to figure out the lyrics as Spencer clapped along, creating a beat.

By the time they got home, it was nearing dawn and their parents were nearly manic. Jane was literally about to call the National Guard right as they walked into the house. They were showered with hugs and kisses but by this point, Billy was exhausted. Before he knew it they were cleaned up again, and the two had collapsed on the air mattress. It might just have been the exhaustion but for a moment it felt as good as a luxury bed at some of the five-star hotel rooms Billy had trashed. Blissful sleep overtook him.

The boys didn't sleep for as long as they would have liked but at least the sun was out when Billy and Spencer were woken by their parents. It took coxing, and about six or seven 'snoozes', until they finally got up and dressed. When they got downstairs the limo had already arrived. Jane made a quick breakfast for everyone to enjoy before it was time for Billy and his mother to leave. Billy and his mother stood out on the porch as they watched Hugh and the chauffeur pack the car with their things. Billy was holding Spencer who clung tightly to him and had his face buried in Billy's shoulder.

"Can't we just leave later or something?" Billy muttered to his mother as he patted the kids' back.

She shook her head, "Your manager is waiting for us. We have a meeting scheduled to talk about your next album tonight."

Billy frowned but nodded. He gave the kid a squeeze before gently pushing Spencer back to look him in the eye, "Ok, tater-tot, BJC's gotta go back to his adoring public. You remember what we talked about?"

The kid frowned with glassy eyes before wriggling until Billy put him down. Then Spencer ran inside.

Billy frowned, "Guess he's still kinda upset with me…"

His mother gave him a sad smile before patting his shoulder and walking to the car. Jane came out of the house holding Jessica in one arm and the shoebox in the other. She handed it towards him.

"I think you forgot this, hun," she said. Billy balked at the thing and opened his mouth-

"Oh, that reminds me!" Hugh shouted and nabbed the box before Billy could say anything and the man ducked into his garage. Billy blinked after him until he felt a tug on his pant leg. Looking down he saw Spencer looking up at him.

"Hey, where'd you run off to, squirt? Not still mad are ya?"

Spencer shook his head as he held his ZomBoy toy up to Billy who took it and stared. For a moment he thought there might be something wrong with it since the kid was giving it to him. He glanced at the garage where Hugh's incinerator was.

"You can borrow him to play with!" Spencer said.

His head whipped back to look at Spencer, "What? But this is your favorite toy, I can't take this, Spence."

"I said BORROW. So you have to come back soon and return it, ok?"

Now he understood what the kid was getting at, "Spence...I don't know when I'll-"

"Don't forget this!" Hugh announced as he came out of the garage and deposited the shoebox in Billy's arms.

Billy nearly dropped it as it felt heavier than he remembered.

"I put all the pictures we took inside it! Unfortunately, I couldn't get that old camcorder working so I also-"

"What is that?" Billy's mother interrupted as she appeared next to Billy who jumped at the sudden appearance. She grabbed the edge of the lid and lifted it to peak in.

Billy snapped it shut, "Nothing! Besides, it's Spencer's stuff." He handed the box to the kid but Spencer shook his head again.

"You can borrow that too and bring it back later."

"Spence, I can't."

Spencer put on his famous pout again with his big glassy brown eyes.

"Aw, come on, kiddo! You know I can't say no to the puppy dog eyes, that's so unfair!" The pout only deepened until Billy let out an exasperated sigh, "Ok, ok, fine! I'll BORROW the stuff for now and bring it back, alright?"

Spencer beamed and held his arms up. Billy slipped the ZomBoy toy inside the box and handed it off to the chauffeur before picking up Spencer and hugging him tightly.

"You remember what we talked about?" Billy whispered.

Spencer nodded against his shoulder.

"Good. You promise not to go back to the cabin or the junkyard?"

Spencer nodded again.

Billy smiled, "Good." he set the kid down and gave Jane and Hugh hugs too.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine," Jane assured him and he believed her, "and even if things aren't you still have your family here to support you."

Billy grinned and nodded. He appreciated that more than she could know. He smirked at the baby who was sporting her usual glare but when he held out his fist she bumped hers' to it.

"You're gonna be one heck of a fighter. Get good enough and maybe one day you'll get to do Bro-Chi with me," Billy told Jessica. She smiled.

Billy looked back at the limo as the trunk shut. All their things were packed and the driver was waiting. He sighed and looked at the Wrights, "Looks like this is goodbye."

Spencer frowned at the ground.

"For now," Billy added just so the kid would smile up at him.

"Feel free to visit us again whenever you like," Jane said, "you're both always welcome here."

"Yeah! And maybe next time we can try fishing! I have a bunch of techniques I can show you, boys!"

"Yeah!" Spencer cheered.

Billy chuckled nervously at the thought of being in nature again, "S-Suuure…"

"Alright, we better get going," Billy's mom said, "We have a busy schedule coming up." She exchanged her hugs and goodbyes with the family before walking to the limo.

Billy gave one last smile to the family, ruffling Spencer's hair one last time before he followed his mom and got into the limo. The plush suede, fur-lined cushions, and tiger print carpet felt familiar but also out of place and he had a strong urge to go bounce on that stupid air mattress one last time. The engine hummed to life and the car started to slowly drive down the dirt road. Billy turned around and stared out the back window of the limo. The Wrights stood watching and waving but Spencer clutched his mothers' pant leg and watched with a sorrowful face. Billy gave a small wave to the kid and that got Spencer to smile and wave back.

Billy watched the family and the house disappear into the distance the further the car drove. For once, he didn't even care about the numerous potholes that jerked him around if he even noticed them at all. Once the horizon was nothing but woods and fields again he turned around in his seat. He grabbed his beaten up messenger bag and pulled out his songbook. On the newest blank page, he scribbled the title 'Best Day Ever'.

"I suppose that wasn't a total loss, now was it? You certainly seem different," his mother commented.

Billy flashed a small smirk, "I guess so."

"So," she sucked in a breath and straightened her posture, "What would you like to talk about first regarding your father?"

Billy was taken aback as he dropped his pen, the lyrics he was about to write all but forgotten for the moment. He hadn't expected this yet, but it filled him with excitement and a little apprehension. He spent a good minute or two thinking about where to start as his eyes absently counted the rhinestones on the limo ceiling. They reminded him of stars, like the ones he'd seen when he and Spencer were going back to the Wrights' house. He wasn't sure how long he thought it through until a question finally popped in his mind. Something he wanted to know more than anything.

But when he turned to her again she had nodded off. Billy was struck with the absurdity and was about to wake her up when he felt very exhausted too. Perhaps a little nap was in order. He had spent the majority of the day yesterday and almost the entire night running in the woods and fighting off monsters with very little sleep afterward. He spared one final glance out the back window. The passing farm fields and woods sent a wistful yet warm feeling coursing through him and it lulled him. He lied down on the long limo seat and looked up at the starry ceiling.

He tried to think back on the events of the week, of the thousands of stars in the sky as he talked with Spencer, but his mind was growing fuzzy. The memories grew hazy like something out of a dream. Or the soft but familiar melody of a guitar played by someone whose face he couldn't recall.

Unbeknownst to Billy and his mother Hugh had put the old camcorder inside the shoebox which glowed a faint blue light in the trunk of the limo. Back at the Wrights house the family also bedded down for a little nap. Both parties slipped into blissful sleep and the box glowed brighter. Memories of the past week floated around inside their heads as if they were a dream. A dream which would fade away into oblivion when they woke.


	11. Epilogue

Present Day

Spencer stared at the screen as the images fizzled into static. The screen went blank when Frank unplugged the projector. No one said anything for a beat as they processed the information and roller coaster of emotions they had just seen.

"It appears once Baruch left the premises with the box and the camera the curse took effect and took everyone's memory of that week," Frank finally chimed in. He sounded much less like a malevolent ghost and more like the kindly old gentleman the boys had met when they first arrived.

Spencer nodded. For a while, he stared at the blank screen. His own memories had gradually returned as they had watched Billy's. He could now connect these new memories to the point where he woke up later that day after Billy left. Spencer remembered waking up, fuzzy and a little delirious. He'd been a little too young to grasp the concept of losing time. He hadn't understood it but he also hadn't questioned it. As he got older he'd even forgotten that he'd forgotten anything at all. He'd forgotten a lot about when he was a kid as you do when you grow up so it hadn't seemed strange to him. But now those memories were returning to him so clear as if they had just happened(and in a way that was what happened). A part of him could hardly believe he'd forgotten them at all given their importance. But he knew it was because of the curse so it wasn't like it was his fault. It didn't make him feel any less bad about the situation. He looked up at his cousin who'd slung an arm around his shoulders near the end of the 'movie'. Billy was staring at the screen looking about as drained as Spencer felt.

"...What happened after that?" he ventured.

Billy's eyebrows raised slightly but he still didn't look at Spencer, "When I woke up I totally forgot I'd even been to your house. Forgot that whole week, forgot you, forgot the rest of the family…"

Spencer frowned as he noticed the catch in Billy's voice despite the pop-star attempting to cover it by clearing his throat.

Billy swallowed, "Like I said...I thought I'd just partied a little too hard and blacked out so I blew it off. Threw a tantrum when I couldn't find my guitar but my managers compensated by getting me new ones. Kind of forgot about it as the years went by. I just...moved on. Kept at the same pop-star lifestyle I'd known before."

"What about your mom?"

Billy's arm tightened a little around Spencer's shoulder before it slipped off, "Far as I can tell she didn't remember either. Didn't question it, things just went back to the way they were between us."

"So...you two never resolved anything?"

Billy didn't respond but he looked away. Spencer didn't know what to say. That must have felt pretty painful, to have had the opportunity to fix a broken relationship right in front of you only to have it stolen. He could only imagine how Billy felt about that. He glanced at Frank but the ghost was fidgeting with the camcorder. Spencer figured he was just avoiding eye contact.

He looked back at Billy, "I'm sorry…"

Billy shrugged again and scrubbed at his face, "Too late to do anything now."

Spencer frowned. Change of subject then. Something a little more light-hearted. He chuckled a little and waited until Billy looked at him, "I knew Best Day Ever was about zombies."

Billy blinked and stared at him for a moment before snorting out a laugh, "As if! It was about monsters and awesome adventures!"

Spencer forced a laugh, "Same thing. So how'd it change?"

"All I'd written was the title in my book, forgot about the rest, so when I saw 'Best Day Ever' I assumed it was about girls, sunshine, big yachts, and money."

Spencer nodded but let out a small sigh. He'd be lying if he wasn't a little disappointed. But there was nothing he could do about it. He could almost sense Billy tense up next to him. "Uh, so Frank," Spencer said and waited for the old ghost to look back at him, "Something I don't get is how you looked and acted so different back then. No offense, but you seem harmless now."

A sheepish expression passed over his face, "Well, as I said, I was upset and not thinking quite rationally. Ghosts can sometimes look or act differently when their emotions or desires get the better of them. Or if they simply forget who they once were."

Interesting. Spencer thought on this for a moment but didn't get a chance to explore it further as he heard Billy snort.

"That supposed to justify kidnapping a child?"

Spencer was caught off guard by the sharpness of Billy's tone.

Frank coughed and shrank back, twiddling his thumbs, "Uh, yes, well- I mean no! No it doesn't, but um, I wasn't myself, you see, and-uh-uh-I had to be sure you'd retrieve my camera which-which-"

"I told you I'd get it as long as we left together!"

"Would you have?" Frank snapped, fixing Billy with a glare. The sudden dark swift in the atmosphere startled the pair.

"Ok, ok, that's enough you two. It doesn't matter anymore," Spencer interrupted. The last thing he wanted to do was anger the ghost given what happened before. Spencer needed to divert the subject, "So, Frank, you seem to have a ton of awesome ghost skills. Can I ask you about them?" Spencer ignored the glare he received from his cousin.

"Oh, by all means, ask away," the ghosts' attitude became subdued again.

Spencer let out a breath, "How'd you get your voice to echo everywhere like that?"

"Speakers" , he said and as he did his voice gently resonated around the cabin. As Spencer and Billy looked around they could see a variety of speakers, large and small, littered around the cabin which they'd neglected to notice when they were kids. If the volume on all of them had been turned up then they would likely feel the same reverberation as before. It would be like standing too close to the speakers at a rock concert but with no crowd to counter the sound.

"That's...actually pretty cool!" Spencer beamed, "And the TVs and screens, you can make them work without any electricity?"

"And display whatever I want. Well...to an extent," as he said this the wall of screens towards the backroom lit up and danced with colors as they had before. Then they all changed to a white background with the text 'Hello' written across the screens.

"So cool!" Spencer grinned. But his smile fell when he noticed Billy's sour expression.

"So you can make stuff turn off and on and make some noise. Big whoop. Can you do this?" Billy used his telekinesis to make some nearby cups and plates float in the air.

"Pretty sure he already has, dude," Spencer said.

Frank chuckled and pointed to the shoe box. The lid lifted up slightly and Spencer's ZomBoy toy popped out from inside, clattering onto the floor. It picked itself up much the same way a human would, it pretended to dust itself off, then waved at the boys. It started to dance around on its own and soon the other toys came out of the box to join it.

Billy made a whining noise as he hid behind Spencer, "Ok, just for the record, that's something I'm glad I cannot do! I'm so sick of freaky deaky dolls and mannequins, dude, you have no idea!"

Spencer rolled his eyes, "Kinda reminds me of what happened that time you chewed your fingernails off. Only that thing didn't listen to you…"

"That was different!"

Frank laughed, "The ability to control objects in such a way is something I worked on for a long time. I'll give you a better example."

The old ghost disappeared as he phased through one of the walls. Meanwhile, the toys returned to the shoebox and resumed their inanimate status. A moment later Frank returned holding a taxidermy fox. Billy hid behind Spencer more. Frank stuck a finger in his own ear and it came out with a glob of ectoplasm on it which he threw onto the fox. It absorbed the ecto and glowed.

"Act like a fox but patrol the perimeter," Frank whispered to it. The fox's joints started to creak and groan as it moved. Spencer jumped up from his seat and stepped back on impulse with Billy right behind him. The memories of being attacked were still all too fresh. But the creature didn't attack. It glanced at them with its dead eyes, eliciting a shriek from Billy, before it hopped out of Franks' hands and scampered out the door. Spencer watched it go with fascination.

"That's awesome! Billy you should learn to control stuff like that. Why are you so scared anyway? I thought you liked animals."

"Animals, yes. That-That is not an animal, it's a zombie!"

Spencer snorted and looked back at Frank, "What about your appearance? You were like a big swirling mass before. Was it shapeshifting?"

"That's something I CAN do!" Billy boasted. Spencer rolled his eyes again.

Frank hummed in thought, "Well altering one's presence can be part of that. Mine was not so complex, you see, it was simply how I presented myself and my surroundings."

"I don't follow…" Spencer said.

"Watch," the older ghost said. Pieces of dark fabric flew at him from around the cabin, surrounding him in the familiar swirling mass they'd seen before. Only his glasses were still visible. The light around them dimmed as if the shadows themselves were seething and sucking up the light. Darkness closing in around them. The lenses of his glasses glowed unnaturally as if they themselves lit up instead of just reflecting the light. His whole presence screamed horror. The boys shrank back and Billy screamed.

Then the shadows retreated, the light returned around them, the fabric went back to where it came from and his lenses stopped growing. He was back to looking like the kindly old ghost. Frank cleared his throat, so to speak, "See? A performance, more or less."

Spencer's mouth hung open as he repeatedly blinked, "That was so cool…"

Billy still hid behind him, "'C-Cool'?! Are you nuts, dude?!"

"AH!" Spencer gasped as a sudden realization hit him.

"What?! What is it now?!" Billy shivered and shrunk more.

"Why didn't I bring my camera?! I could record all this for one of my movies! Maybe I can grab it from the car and come back. Think you could help us out for my latest film? It's about ghosts so it fits perfectly! Or maybe you could give Billy some pointers so he can do this kind of stuff too!"

Frank and Billy grimaced at him. Or not…

"I think...I've had my fill of social interaction for the next decade or so," Frank muttered, "Besides, item manipulation is my specialty. Baruch might night not have the disposition for it."

"Billy," the late pop-star corrected, "My name is Billy."

"Oh, right...my apologies. You don't like that, do you?"

Spencer blinked, "Come to think of it, how'd you know his name before we did the whole memory movie thing?"

Frank snapped his fingers and one of the speakers turned on. Spencer recognized the teenage voice of his cousin repeated through the speaker saying:

"Can't bring this stuff back. If I did and Mom finds it all I'll hear is: 'Baruch Cohen, I told you to stop that nonsense!'"

Billy pouted, "Guess I did say that, huh?"

Spencer grinned, "Man, I have so many questions! What else can you-"

"Ok, ok, that's enough info dumpage for today!" Billy interrupted, "We've been here all day, we gotta get going soon if we're gonna beat your parents home."

Spencer looked out the window and saw Billy was right. Daylight spilled in through the window, reflecting off of all the metallic surfaces in the cabin, lighting up the cramped spaces. Now that the room was silent he could hear the gentle hum of crickets and coo of morning doves. Considering they had entered the house Saturday evening they must have spent the entire night and well into the next morning watching the events of the past. Spencer's rumbling stomach confirmed this. He really, really wanted to stay and talk more to Frank. To learn more about ghosts and what they're capable of. But they had to go. His parents and Jessica were supposed to be back from the competition that evening and they had a long drive home.

"Maaayybee we could come back to visit sometime?" Spencer grinned, once again ignoring Billy's irritated scowl.

Frank hummed, "Perhaps...once and a while...but not too often."

"Great. Well, um, thanks, I guess," Spencer said as he held out his hand, "I mean can't say it's been under the best circumstances but it's been cool. We learned a lot."

Frank tilted his head for a moment before nodding and shaking Spencer's hand, "I do have to say, I truly apologize for the trouble I have caused you both and for having scared you so terribly when you were only children."

Spencer winced, "We should apologize too…" He looked at Billy who was scowling at the ground. Spencer nudged him and the ghost finally let out a sigh. Billy shook Franks' hand.

"Sorry for taking the camera," he said.

Despite the large lenses covering most of his face, Spencer saw a shadow of remorse sweep over Franks' expression, "My sincerest apologies for taking something so precious from you both and robbing you of that time."

Spencer and Billy looked up at the older gentleman in surprise. The apology felt genuine and somber, like he did, in fact, regret what happened. Both boys bid him a final goodbye before grabbing the shoebox and heading for the exit.

"Oh, Bar-uh-Billy!" Frank called.

They stopped and turned to him. The red guitar floated out from the backroom to hover between them, "I believe you'll be wanting this back? It is a bit damaged but still precious in its own way."

Billy stared at it for a long moment. Spencer could see in his expression as his thought process changed from considering taking it to something like resignation.

"Keep it," he said.

This stunned both Frank and Spencer.

"Gift, souvenir, whatever you wanna call it. Add it to the collection."

"Is it not precious to you after all?"

Billy thought for a moment and shrugged, "It was. There are other things that are more important."

Spencer and Frank stared at him in surprise as the late pop-star hovered out the door. Spencer looked back at Frank and he could almost make out a smile behind the bushy mustache and glasses. Spencer grinned, waved to Frank, then followed his cousin outside.

The walk to the car and the ride home were relatively quiet except for Spencer's crunching as he munched on snacks. Both parties were too absorbed in their thoughts for idle conversation. But Spencer couldn't help drifting back on Franks' apology and the 'what ifs' had they not been cursed. All those years Spencer felt alone while growing up with little to no friends, playing by himself, deciding that he wanted to make horror movies. A part of him wondered if that decision had still been subconsciously lingering in his mind from Billy's suggestion when they were kids. He also wondered what Billy would have turned out like. What if they'd gotten to hang out more when they were kids? Would Billy have been different like his mom had said he was at the end? Or would things have still gone back to how they were before? Did Billy ever find out more about his dad?

Spencer glanced over at Billy who was driving the limo, about to ask one of about a dozen questions. But the look on the ghosts' face made him reconsider. Billy looking all serious and brooding was still foreign to him and Spencer had no idea how to deal with it. A part of him wished for the dorky and egotistical Billy back right now. At least that he knew how to handle. He frowned back out the passenger side window and felt an odd sort of tension in the air. He thought he felt Billy's eyes on the back of his head briefly but he opted to try and get some sleep instead.

It was well into the evening by the time they got home. They made it back to the house before Spencer's parents but only by an hour at most. Spencer had slept through most of the ride until he needed to present the appearance of being the driver. But sleeping in a car, even a limo, wasn't comfortable and he still felt drained. Though if it was from the ride or from everything they'd experienced he didn't know. He had to act as if he'd had a boring weekend and stay awake to entertain his parents and sisters' stories about her competition until they finally preoccupied themselves with something else. Billy had disappeared a while ago with the shoebox and when Spencer went up to his room he noticed the ghost wasn't there. Too tired to go looking for him at the moment he flopped down on his bed and passed out.

Monday's alarm clock screamed at him to wake up and get ready for school. He snoozed it until Jessica barged into his room and literally kicked him out of his bed. He begrudgingly got up, washed and dressed for school all the while looking around for Billy who was still strangely absent. Spencer dragged his feet all the way downstairs, inhaled some cereal, and went to school by himself again. Twice so far his usually chatty bike rides to school were silent except for the standard city noise. It was becoming a familiar pattern that he wasn't quite comfortable with.

The day went much the same as it had last week. The hours and classes went by the same boring and drawn out the way they had before. No ghostly pranks or antics or chattering above him. Kleet and Lolo bullied him as usual, this time without Spencers' 'special effects' to intervene. Rajeev and Shanilla quizzed him on what went down over the weekend and he tried his best to tell them.

By the end of the school day Billy still hadn't shown up and Spencer was worried. Not that the ghost always had to accompany him to school, many times he didn't, but after what happened he wondered what the ghost could still be pouting about. When Spencer got home he made it his mission to find Billy. He didn't have to look long as he heard music trickling from the studio.

Spencer cracked open the door and was greeted to a wave of sound and a room full of Billy clones playing instruments and singing. Spencer listened. The tune sounded faintly familiar and he suspected he had an idea of what Billy was doing. He took a step into the studio and one of the clones noticed him. Immediately the extra Billys stopped what they were doing. They stared at Spencer as if they had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

Spencer's eyebrows furrowed, "Heeyyy...What's going on?"

The Billy who'd been singing (presumably the real Billy) spoke up, "Hey, Spenpal! How's it hanging?"

Spencer blinked. Billy sounded like he was back to his old cheery self. The 180 flip in attitude wasn't what he'd expected, "You-uh...ok? Didn't see you at school. Or this morning."

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that, dude. I got a little preoccupied."

Spencer nodded and looked around the studio, "Sooo...what are you doing?"

"Uhh...well that song's not gonna record itself, right? 'Course I had to change some things a bit…" Billy mumbled as he looked at his songbook.

Spencer blinked in surprise, "Best Day Ever? You're actually going forward with it?"

"Of course! We're gonna need a new name, though. Can't have two Best Day Evers."

Spencer was speechless. He honestly hadn't expected Billy to try and finish the song anymore. He frowned, "Dude...you don't have to-"

"Yeah, I do! I promised, remember? I mean I can't cut my finger off anymore so don't have much of a choice, do I?"

Spencer opened his mouth and then closed it. He was a little touched that Billy intended on keeping his promise but he wasn't going to admit it out loud. He nodded, "What do you wanna call it?"

Billy thought for a moment and shrugged, "It'll come to me. Hey, there's something else I want to show you!" Billy nudged Spencer out of the studio and closed the door before zipping down the hall. He returned a second later with something behind his back, "Hand over my shades and close your eyes for a sec."

"But...I can't see you without them," Spencer said as he tried to mask his concern.

"Don't worry, I got something better for ya," the ghost grinned.

Spencer frowned as he slowly took them out of his pocket and handed them to Billy. Billy's hand stopped just short of grabbing the shades as he gave Spencer a look. Spencer pouted and closed his eyes. He felt the shades leave his hand and he'd be lying if he said he didn't feel a slight moment of panic. But of course, there was no way he was going to tell Billy that. Something on his face must have still given him away as he felt something ruffle his hair. He swatted at it even though he knew it was useless. Spencer then felt something draped around his neck.

"Open em up, Spenmister!"

Spencer opened his eyes and saw Billy floating in front of him with a grin on his face. Spencer grabbed at the thing around his neck to get a better look. Two guitar picks hung from a chain. One was a sparkly blue guitar pick. Not the BJC logo one he'd worn before but the simpler one he'd seen Billy wear as a teen. Next to the blue one was the red gemstone one he'd seen in the shoebox, the same one Billy used as a teen to try and teach Spencer a few chords to no avail.

"Better than juggling a pair of shades all the time, right?"

Spencer pointed to the blue pick, "Hold on, this is-"

"The one Dad used to teach me to play the guitar. Don't let that one get incinerated, alright?"

Spencer's eyes shot up to look at him, "Billy I can't take this! What-"

"You can," Billy cut him off. His expression was so serious that Spencer found it hard to argue. The ghost shrugged, "It's not much use to me anymore anyway."

Spencer smirked at him, "You're being weirdly sentimental, you know that? Don't tell me you're getting soft."

Billy bristled and folded his arms across his chest, "As if, short stuff! I just don't want the great BJC's stuff sitting in the dark collecting dust is all!"

Spencer gave him a cheeky grin, "Keep telling yourself that."

"BJC is not soft!" Billy protested. He put Spencer in a headlock and proceeded to give him a noogie, "So take it back!"

"Aahh! Ok, ok, I take it back, you toolshed!"

Billy laughed and shoved him away. Spencer pouted at him as he fixed his hair, "You suck."

Billy continued to laugh.

Spencer waited a moment, glancing down at his new necklace, "Seriously though...thanks, man. I'll take care of it. Promise."

Billy grinned, "Good."

Spencer faltered a little as he looked back at the blue pick, "Did you ever find out more about your dad?"

Billy frowned and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, dude...That blows. Look, if you want I can help you-"

"Later," Billy cut him off. By his tone, Spencer could tell it was something he wasn't comfortable talking about yet. "Anyway, speaking of promises," Billy continued, "wanna hear how the songs' coming along?" Billy asked as he opened the door to the studio where the other Billy's waited.

Spencer glanced around at them, their faces all eager and waiting to play. There was still so much Spencer wanted to talk about. But for now... "Sure. Bet I can come up with an even better new name for it than you can."

"We'll see about that," Billy ruffled his hair before turning back to the studio.

"...Billy."

He stopped and looked back.

There was just one more thing bothering Spencer. "When we first got to the junkyard yesterday and we were looking around...which promise were you talking about breaking?" If Billy was intent on keeping the promise about the song then he wasn't sure which one Billy had been so distraught about before.

Billy grimaced and scratched the back of his head, "Oh...Sorry about that, kiddo. I wasn't able to keep my promise about coming back and hanging out, huh?"

Spencer smirked, "What are you talking about? You're here and we're hanging out, right?"

Billy blinked at him before smiling and holding out his fist. Spencer bumped it with his before following Billy into the studio.


End file.
